Samurai of Legend
by Plague117
Summary: Heavy AU! Shinji is the heir to Ikari clan that has been destroyed by a rival clan. Follow him as he strives to rebuild his clan as the daimyos around the country seem to get more hostile with each other. Feudal Japan, ShinjixAsuka
1. Prologue: Ikari Shinji's journal

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion belong to Gainax and Hideaki Anno. The name Samurai of Legend belongs to the online text-based samurai game.

**Samurai of Legend**

**Prologue: Ikari Shinji's journal entry number 1**

My name is Ikari Shinji. Today I have reached Kamakura in the Kanagawa prefecture. I have traveled a hundred miles to get here over the course of many days. I had to ensure that I was far enough from my birth place and, incidentally, my birth-right to be able to orchestrate my rise to power.

This is surely confusing to those ones who will be reading this if not versed in my personal story. I am the heir to the Ikari-shi (shi means clan) and I was comfortably seated on my seat of prince until just a few months ago. During the rule of Ikari Gendo, my cunning and deceptive father, the Ikari-shi was destroyed. His downfall was to have a teacher too close to him. that teacher, Fuyutsuki-sensei. This man had taught my father from the early age of seven years old and was still present at my father's side as he reached his late thirties. He had assisted my father in coping with worry when my mother birthed me and he had assisted my father with planning strategies and orchestrating the fall of our enemies.

However, this teacher eventually fell in love with my mother and killed my father out of spite. But the story is deeper then just that. Apparently after having spent years longing for my mother's affections, Fuyutsuki was approached by the Akagi-shi. They offered him the perfect deal; he was to kill my father on the eve of their surprise attack and they would then storm the castle and free him allowing him to take my mother as a spoil of war. However, shortly after he killed my father he was captured; he did not seem worried as he was persuaded his allies would come, but they didn't.

I had him tortured to death. The fool had the audacity to last less then a month; 23 days of torture should not be penance enough for betraying a lord. I must admit, having my mother slit his throat was a great blow, having gotten his life taken away by the very woman he loved whilst staring in her hate filled eyes, it was almost poetic.

However never once did he speak of the treachery he commited with the Akagi-shi or warn us of their attack. Don't get me wrong, I don't enjoy causing pain or torturing people. I'd rather not even have to fight or kill enemy soldiers much less torture anyone. But I digress; on with my tale. The Akagi-shi never had the intention of storming the castle and freeing Fuyutsuki, instead they attacked us during my honorable father's funeral, the pathetic dogs that they are.

I ordered Suzuhara Touji, heir to the Suzuhara-shi, and Aida Kensuke, heir to the Aida-shi to flee with their fathers and their troops, however their fathers refused and were cut down. As the battle raged, I told them that all was not lost, and that when attacked by a raging dragon, better to retreat and attack whilst it digested its meal then to be devoured by the beast in its attack. And so they fled at my orders. They were my greatest friends and I needed them alive for the future, and so I was glad to see them go.

But my soldiers were not useless. Although the vast majority of my armies were cut down, taken prisoners or had fled, a handful of riders and swordsmen rallied to me and we managed to cut our path out whilst protecting my mother. The ones who fell are remembered fondly by myself as truely honorable warriors and shall be hailed as heroes when I regain my power.

I sent my mother and the remaining riders away to China, where my cousin, Ayanami Rei, now Zhang Rei, was married to a local lord. This was yet another reason that the Akagi-shi despised us. Zhang Lao, the Chinese lord, chose my cousin over their precious Ritsuko, flower of the Eastern seas, as they proclaimed her to be. Never had I seen such a vile example of femininity as that when I saw that woman. She was truely disgusting and it was no suprise that my sweet and angelic, if somewhat cold cousin was chosen by Lao. It was fine for both of them as they had become instantly smitten with each other.

But again, I stray off the path of my story. After sending my mother to safety I decided that the best course of action for now was a total and complete retreat. I sent all of my troops, which was not much, a mere 200 naginata riders and 50 samurai warriors, to China where they were to protect my mother and gave them a message to deliver to Lao asking that he take care of my troops and another to Rei asking that she attend every need to her adoptive mother. For even though we were cousins, her parents had been slain early on and she had been raised as a sister by my father and mother.

Now, I have shunned everything, my lordship, my country and my men. I do, however, retain my name, as the Ikari-shi was not major enough to be warranted a name throughout Japan. So here I am, a wanderer in the Kamakura city of Kanegawa prefecture, about 40 miles away from Edo and trying to figure out a way to rebuild an army. I think that making allies would be useful, and I need to find a way to raise funds and raise an army. However, the main reason I am in Kamakura is to find someone that was sent here long ago, the sun sets and I must rise early if I am to begin my search tommorow.

**AN: note that this is an AU, so any reviews consisting 'HA! why not just rename shinji's name to this and put it in **_**that**_** category' will be promptly ignored. Second, no historical lessons, a lot of what I'm going to write in this story is creative liberty so a lot of events will not be as they were in real life. I don't some japanes history geek to berate me about accuracy, if it's an actual Japanese history major or Japanese person in general i won't mind remarks as I am always welcome to learning new things about history. remarks not flames or berating about accuracy. Also, there's no need to worry about any characters not appearing, I have already arranged the appearances of Misato, Kaji, Kaworu, SEELE, Asuka, Rei, Ritsuko, Maya, and Yui. Finally, reviews are very much welcome, as well as any ideas you may have, if I find them interesting I will incorporate them into the storyline and thank you for providing me with an idea. The legendary Hououza has helped me shaped the story line a lot with simple suggestions, so I beg you to do the same and help me out.**

**Beta by CrazyNinjaPenguin**


	2. Gin!

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion belong to Gainax and Hideaki Anno. The name Samurai of Legend belongs to the online text-based samurai game.

**Samurai of Legend**

**Chapter 1: Gin!**

Shinji looked around the city of Kamakura carefully, it did not seem that different when compared to other towns he'd accompanied his father to in Japan. It was hard to believe that the first true Shogunate was based in a city that did not look that distinct in Shinji's eyes.

As he wandered the streets he felt the stares he, or more precisely his sword, was getting. He cursed his sentimentality for the hundreth time, but it had been his father's sword and he was loath to leave it behind for some looter to take. He took a long look at the sword himself, and the scabbard which was made of cherrywood painted black; along the sides a dragon had been carved into the wood, winding and coiling its way to the top of the scabbard where it's head held its jaws wide open as if holding the sword itself in its body. As if that wasn't flashy enough the whole dragon was painted gold.

Only four people had ever seen the sword: his father, the traitor Fuyutsuki, his mother and himself; only he and his departed father had ever held it.

* * *

Shinji walked around trying to find the more shady parts of the city; right now he was in the brothel district. This being definitely _not_ what he had in mind, he sighed and decided that enough was enough as he entered a nearby brothel intent on asking for direction; hopefully he'd stumble on a Yakuza who could direct him on how to find the hired swordsmen in the town.

He looked and suddenly his eyes fell on a pair of men. While they were inconspicuous enough, he knew them to be Yakuza simply by the fact that the more irrating looking one had a piece of his left little finger sliced off; obviously he had done something wrong and had to slice it off as penance. Shinji approached them fearlessly; the two men looked up at Shinji and waited, expecting a bow that never came. Instead they found themselves gazing into eyes full of disdain and disgust. The fact that Shinji was holding his head higher than usual and was making a show of looking down on them, did not make the following exchange any easier.

"I'm looking for..._hired hands,_ and I expect men of such," Shinji gave a short snort, "_stature_ as yourselves might know where to find them" he said the word stature with as much disgust he could muster.

"What do you want kid? We can't help you!" Sliced Finger told him with a sneer.

"Surely, petty gansters such as yourselves know where to find assassins," Shinji was slowly losing his temper with the man.

"Petty? I'll show you petty! you have 10 seconds to scram kid, or I'll take your head off myself," Sliced Finger told Shinji.

Instead of responding, Shinji drew his swords. He quickly pointed the longer katana at the throat of the silent Yakuza with his left hand whilst hooking a leg on the torso of Sliced Finger and pointing the shorter wakizashi sword at the back of his neck.

"I'll ask again, where do you find assassins," he asked the silent one.

"WHY! YOU LITTLE BASTARD! I'LL GET YOU FOR..." Sliced Finger was silenced by a foot in the face, Shinji looked up, slightly surprised at the smiling face of the silent Yakuza. Slowly Shinji unhooked his leg from the man's body and let him slump to the floor.

"Please, excuse my partner's behaviour, I don't understand his problems myself. First he set this meeting place when we could have gone somewhere more acceptable," the man said.

"I would expect a Yakuza to threaten me with his gang," Shinji commented idly.

"I'm not a Yakuza. I'm more what you would call a spy, I work as a hired hand for this gang, spying on the other gang of the city. Please sit.," he motioned to the now empty seat of his partner.

"who are you?" asked Shinji.

"My name is Kaji Ryoji, and I'm a spy, as I have already said, but it seems I have lost my source of income." he said this with a brilliant smile, and took out a pipe and started to smoke it "And who might you be?" he asked pleasantly.

"I am Ikari Shinji, leader of the Ikari clan," answered Shinji.

"My, my, I have heard of your clan, and the reason why a daimyo would be wandering the brothels of Kamakura alone. My condolences," Shinji simply waved the man's words away. But he couldn't help but sense a double meaning in them. "Anyways, you seem pretty good as a fighter so, why do you need an assassin?" asked Kaji

"I don't," responded Shinji, "I just need to know who the strongest swordsman in this city is."

"Ah, that would be Gin," he responded.

"Gin?" asked Shinji; he thought, "_silver? Could it be?_"

"Yes, no one knows his real name, all we know are the fact that his eyes are blood red and that his hair is of a brilliant silver. He's usually found wandering around the beaches, especially the ones that have a view of Mount Fuji" answered Kaji.

"Thank you, that is all I needed to know, Kaji-san if you need work then wait for me at Kotōku-in at dusk in three days," he told Kaji

"Very well, I will be there. That is, unless the Yakuza try to kill me. Despite being a raucous idiot that guy is a pretty high ranked man," he answered, Shinji glanced in disgust at the knocked out man.

"Maybe I should finish him off?" he wondered aloud, hand on his sword.

"Ah! no, no, please, if you do that they'll never get off my back." said Kaji with a somewhat nervous chuckle while rubbing the back of his head. Shinji glanced at Kaji with ice cold ocean blue eyes and he could have sworn they warmed a bit before reverting to their steely look. He gave a quick nod, donned his hat and walked bristly out of the building. After he walked out of the brothel district he stopped and glanced at the sky, with a slight smile he thought "_now to find you...Gin!_"

* * *

Shinji wandered through the city in the general direction of his hotel, lost in thought and not really paying attention to his surroundings, until he heard a whistling sound. He quickly drew the dagger that he kept fastened to his wrist and threw it to deflect a knife that was racing toward him at high speed. With not even a second to stop and think he found himself having to perform a quick jump back to avoid having a sword disembowel him.

He looked around hurriedly trying to catch a glimpse of his assailant. His opponent identity was hidden due by a scarf that was wrapped around the lower and upper parts of his head. All Shinji could see were eyes but he could not even get a clear view of them in the darkness.

He then realized that his own features were hidden, so he briefly wondered how the hell this assassin knew his target. It mattered not, for the assassin quickly charged at Shinji, his sword trailing behind him as he ran. He leapt into the air, doing a flip before attempting to break the young daimyo's sword with a downward kick. Shinji, however, knew this move well and flipped backwards to evade the kick.

"_He must be using a style related to the Ikari-ryu,_" mused Shinji. He charged the mysterious attacker, his sword held at his side. His opponent's blade flashed as the assassin aimed a slash at Shinji's throat. Shinji quickly kicked his own feet from under him, using his momentum to let slide under the attack while he made a stab at the man from his low vantage point. His arrack was blocked by the assassin's scabbard before he skilfully flipped away.

As the two men continued to exchange cuts and slashes, all of which were deflected by their flashing blades, they both were too caught up in the fight to realize that their style were all but identical. Shinji, wanting to interrogate the man, was holding back some of his skill but the other was aiming for a kill. Suddenly the assassin charged at Shinji, his blade held in front of him as he made a thrust at Shinji's face. Shinji swiftly ducked feeling the sword impale his hat, sending it flying away in pieces. He was hardly concerned with the loss of apparel as he finally found his opening.

He quickly dashed from his crouch and was about the stab the man in the abdomen before his scream of, "WAIT!" delayed him. Shinji did wait, expecting this man to come clean and beg forgiveness. He wasn't prepared for what the assassin did next, he got on his knees and kow-towed to Shinji.

"Please forgive me, my lord," said the man, "I did not recognize, I humbly apologize."

Shinji walked forward warily and yanked the man up from the ground to his knees. He grabbed the scarf covering the man's head and yanked it off revealing the face of...

"Kaworu-nii-san!" exclaimed Shinji.

"Please, my lord, do not adress me with such familiarity, it is improper. I am just your mere cousin," he said in response, "regardless, we should discuss these matters in private, your hotel, perhaps?" asked Ayanami Kaworu, Rei's brother and Shinji's cousin. Shinji simply nodded and led the way to the hotel.

**A/N:In case you're wondering, yes Kaworu's name was changed but that was to establish that he was Rei's brother. Also like Rei he was raised as a son by Gendo and Yui and therefore like a brother to Shinji. and no, he won't be betraying shinji at all in this fic. sorry to disappoint. Thanks to all of you who reviewed, especially Hououza and thanks to Crazyninjapenguin for the beta.**


	3. Retaliation

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion belong to Gainax and Hideaki Anno. The name Samurai of Legend belongs to the online text-based samurai game.

**Samurai of Legend**

**Chapter 3: Retaliation**

**Journal entry 2**

_It seems that luck is on my side in its own twisted sort of way. I have found the man I have come to Kamakura to find; His name is Ayanami Kaworu. By blood he is my cousin, but he has been raised as a brother by my parents since age two, as his parents had been killed early on. _

_Kaworu is the best swordsman in the entire Ikari clan besides me for one simple reason; he was the only person other then me to be trained personally by my father. While my father had some downfalls, his swordsmanship was un-rivaled for hundreds of miles. Few knew of any swordsmen strong enough to defeat my father. It was really ironic that a friend took his life in such a despicable manner; a man deemed 'unkillable', who it was thought certain would be taken naturally and not through anyone's blade. _

_For some reason unknown to me, however, my father had sent Kaworu to Kamakura on some sort of assignment. So when the clan was attacked he wasn't there. I decided that finding him should be a priority bar none; he would be my general once my armies were reformed. Such skills cannot be left to rot at the mercy of cowardly fat bastards hell bent on taking out their victims without ever moving their fat, money oiled asses from their seats. As if these bastards had any idea what it took to be a man of Kaworu's skills, and yet they undoubtedly looked down upon him, as if money made a man._

_Now, pressing matters are at hand, like finding the son of a bitch who hired Kaworu to kill me. I think a little retaliation is in order; his head and his money shall be enough to satisfy me._

**End Journal**

Shinji sat down wearily and motioned Kaworu to do the same.

"Who sent you?" he asked tersely.

"A foreign dignitary from a European country," answered Kaworu, "he only gave his name as Langley, my lord."

"Hmm, how rich is he and how good is his guard?" asked Shinji.

"He is the richest man in Kamakura, and he has a formidable guard. However it is not so formidable as to stop us, my lord. They are different from the guards of other wealthy men because they spent a few years in the state army, formidable by rich people's standards but pathetic by true warrior standards," he assured Shinji.

"How did you know to kill me? My face was hidden" inquired Shinji.

"The sword you carry was described my lord," Kaworu responded apologetically.

"On to other matters, why were you sent to Kamakura? No one ever bothered telling me," asked Shinji.

"I was witness to several meetings between Fuyutsuki and some members of the Akagi clan. When I brought this to the attention of your father he told me that what I was saying was preposterous and that I ought to be executed for saying such things agaisnt his teacher. Then he decided to send me here. He did not tell me what to do, just to keep an eye out for unusual activity and an ear open for names that I recognized. I decided to assume the identity of Gin, and I became a hired hand," he explained warily.

"That foolish old man! This could have all been averted, stupid man. Trust has always been his greatest weakness; it was either not trusting anyone or being too trusting. Foolish old man!" raged Shinji. He then looked as if something hit him, a realization "Kaworu, did you tell your employer that you had found me before coming to kill me?" he questioned, speaking quickly.

"Yes, why is that a...oh, shit," muttered Kaworu, "if he thinks I failed he'll also consider that I might have talked, now the less troublesome outcome is he'll send another assasin but..."

"But, he might flee," finished Shinji for him, "We can't let such an oppurtinity get away; you're gonna wrap me up like a dead body and sneak me into his compound, then we'll find him and kill him," he explained quickly as Kaworu nodded before rushing out to find the necessary materials.

* * *

An hour later, Kaworu was in front of the gate of the Langley compound with a wrapped up Shinji on a cart behind him.

"This is the man you wanted me to kill; he's dead." announced Kaworu, the man just glanced at him and nodded allowing him inside.

Kaworu grabbed the cart and pulled it along muttering under his breath of stupid employers and not being able to get any sleep because of them. As if proving the statement Kaworu had made about Langley's wealth, the trek from the gate to the main house took 5 minutes for Kaworu and his cart. He finally got to the house where a guard stopped him.

"We have to check that the body is dead first," he informed Kaworu.

Kaworu smiled and nodded, he turned around towards the other guard and motioned him over.

"What is it?" he asked Kaworu wearily.

"Oh nothing," smiled Kaworu, he put his arm around the man's shoulder "I just wondered if you knew where to get some good sake," he told the man.

"Yeah, sure. There's the place over on..." He never finished his sentence as Kaworu had moved his arm from his shoulder and grabbed the man's jaw, pulling hard, snapping the man's neck. He quickly drew his wakizashi and threw it into the chest of the guard who had just realized at the same time that Shinji was alive and his friend had been killed. Kaworu quickly recovered his short sword and freed Shinji.

"I guess we're not gonna be as inconspicuous as we wished," smirked Shinji.

"It appears not, my lord," replied Kaworu.

"No matter," Shinji said as he kicked open the western style door of the large mansion. As soon as he did shouts could be heard coming from inside the house. Within moments the whole floor was filled with guards.

Shinji just frowned as he said, "I'll take the left."

Kaworu was the complete opposite as he unleashed a brilliant smile and said, "of course, my lord."

Then they both dashed forward, Shinji's sword was flashing as he completed meticulous slash after meticulous slash on the enemies lined in front of him. One man lunged forward trying to slice Shinji's head off, but Shinji performed a quick backflip to evade the blow, launching the dagger that was fastened to his wrist while he was in the air. He landed a kick on another guard's head as he landed while seeing out of the corner of his eye that the dagger had entered the neck of the guard who had charged him.

He continued weaving in and out of enemies, his sword sending drops of crimson flying through the air, the bodies piling up around him. Kaworu was a different story, he charged through his enemies fiercely with two swords in hand. He spun at the guards, sending bloody severed heads and arms flying into the air and dropping gouts of the crimson liquid splashing loudly to the polished marble floors of the mansion. He kept the smile on his face as he watched his sword enter some poor man's stomach and come out of the other side. He quickly slashed to the side, ripping his sword, and the man's bowels, out of the poor guard's body.

Soon the guards were either dead or fleeing and Shinji was calmly cleaning his sword. He glanced at Kaworu who looked like a kid getting a wonderful present and he shivered.

"Kaworu, there's nothing that frightens me more then watching you fight," said Shinji to his cousin,

"What are you talking about? you're a better fighter then I am, my lord," said Kaworu still grinning madly.

"Perhaps, but I don't look like I'm about to cackle with glee every time I cut down some poor fool. Thank god you only act that way when you're fighting. I'm also relieved you don't pick useless fights. If you did, you would quickly become a horror story to tell little children," remarked Shinji. He sheathed his sword and walked forward, only to find two kodachis flying towards him st high speed.

Kaworu's smile was lost instantly as he dashed in front of Shinji, deflecting the blades quickly with his sword. A young fighter dressed entirely in a red outfit with gold dragon designs and wearing a mask jumped down from the second story balcony and into the hall.

"Prepare to die, you worthless dog! You think you have skill? HA! don't make me laugh!" exclaimed the new fighter.

"I'll take care of this Kaworu," Shinji said softly. Kaworu just nodded and let his master walk past him. Shinji slowly drew his sword from it's protective scabbard and stood in front of the enemy. He just dashed at the seemingly defenseless enemy and slashed down. He saw the man raise his hands over his head and block his sword with his arms.

"How in the world?" gasped Shinji. He then pulled back and tried to slice at the arm only to face the same result. This time the sleeve of the man's outfit fell off and Shinji saw a metal arm guards underneath.

"So that's it? And here I thought it would be more extravagant," Shinji said, the man said nothing and just rushed at Shinji. The fight went one as Shinji tried to land a slash on the mysterious fighter but kept getting deflecting by his arms.

Finally, he threw his dagger at the masked man. He dashed forward a second later; taking advantage of the dagger's distraction he managed to quickly charge up to the fighter and after three quick slashes he sheathed his sword and smirked as he heard a very feminine gasp behind him. He looked back to see the warrior's eyes widen as his arm guards and mask fell of his body.

"I knew you were a girl." grinned Shinji triumphantly at having guessed correctly. "Kaworu?" he prompted his cousin,

"That's Sohryu Asuka Langley, she's Langley's daughter," he enlightened.

Shinji stared at the young girl trying to place her age; he would guess 16 like him if he had to. She had a beautiful face framed by crimson hair and she had sparkling blue eyes that were shining with anger and embarassment. "_Ah, a proud one eh?_" thought Shinji.

"Sohryu?" whispered Shinji, he then broke out into a bout of laughter, "this just keeps getting more and more interesting. Kaworu grab her."

Kaworu just nodded as he grabbed Asuka by the arm and dragged her up the stairs following his lord. Shinji finally reached a large wooden door and turned to Kaworu, who nodded, before kicking it open. He couldn't help but glance at Asuka's face and almost laughed again as he saw her expression had settled into a pout. He entered the room and kicked the man who had been sitting in a large chair onto his knees before putting his sword to his neck. Kaworu answered Shinji's question before he could even ask it

"That's him," Shinji nodded and prepared to kill the man.

"WAIT!" screamed Asuka, "please don't kill him, please. I beg you" Shinji didn't even glance at her.

"It was all a misunderstanding!" she shouted; the words made Shinji pause. He hated killing defenseless people without reason so he listened.

"Explain" he told her.

"My father was approached by these people; they said that they were from the Akogi clan" she said.

"Akagi?" asked Kaworu, perplexed.

"Yes! that's it, Akagi! They said that a man was coming to kill my father and sell me into slavery. They said he would be carrying the sword you're carrying so we sent him to kill you." she explained. Shinji turned to Kaworu.

"Those damn Akagi dogs; too cowardly to finish their endeavor themselves," spat Shinji.

"Endeavor?" Langley spoke up for the first time

"Yes, I am Ikari Shinji, leader of the Ikari Clan. They have destroyed my clan. I am the last threat to their plans so they want me dead. That is why they sent you to kill me," he explained, "you and your daughter need to leave this country, the Akagis don't do well with failure and they'll have you killed."

"Leave? but I can't leave!" Langley exclaimed.

"If you're not gone by tommorow I'll kill you myself," said Shinji. The man blanched visibly before nodding fearfully, "Kaworu, keep an eye on them for tonight, and meet me at that clearing on the east side of the outskirts."

"Yes, my lord," answered Kaworu. Shinji walked out of the house wearily, hearing Langley questioning Kaworu.

* * *

"Kaworu! finally, I've been waiting an hour...what the hell is that?" asked Shinji the following day whilst pointing at a large chariot tbeing driven by Kaworu.

"This is a gift from Langley-san, my lord," he then leaned forward and whispered "It's full of gold!"

"Wonderful! we'll have no trouble building an army like that!" exclaimed Shinji.

"My lord, there is something I must warn you abou..." started Kaworu but he was interrupted.

"Yo!" said Asuka with a large grin as her face popped out from the cloth that covered the chariot. Shinji, who did not like heads appearing out of nowhere right in front of his face, jumped back and yelled in fright.

Finally he managed to get himself under control and screamed, "WHAT THE HELL IS SHE DOING HERE?!" pointing an accusatory finger at Asuka.

"Well, she's also a gift from Langley...forget it," muttered Kaworu as he noticed that the other two were too busy yelling at each other to pay attention to him. He sighed heavily. "T_his is going to be troublesome_," he thought.

**To Be Continued.**

**AN: Here is Asuka, everyone. The next chapter will have the return of Kaji and also the introduction of two surprise characters. Hope you like it, I'd like to thank everyone for reviewing and I'd like to thank CrazyNinjaPenguin for the beta.** **I would also like to take this oppurtinity to ask the people whi have added this story to their alert lists to please leave a review.**


	4. Planning

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion belong to Gainax and Hideaki Anno. The name Samurai of Legend belongs to the online text-based samurai game.

**Samurai of Legend**

**Chapter 4: Planning**

**Journal entry 3**

_That woman is insufferable! All she does is yell, whine and complain! I can't stand her. Kaworu said she was a gift from Langley; that bastard was probably just trying to get her ass of his hands and thus dumped her in mine. Damn it all! _

_She does have some redeeming points, though. I have to admit that she's extremely beautiful, too bad her personality is so horrible. She is also a skilled fighter even though she has still not found a style that fits her. And I do like the fact that she treats me like a man and not like nobility; it's a welcome change from that moronic Kaworu, always with his 'my lord' this and 'my lord' that. Ah! Get off it man! We were brought up like brothers and you can't even address me normally? What the hell is wrong with you? _

_Pff, if I even try to tell him that he'll reply with another of his "My lord, you are a man of noble stature and addressing as anything less would be a criminal sin on my part, how would it look to other clans if I were to adr...urk!" that last part being prompted by my fist in his constantly smiling face. Not that I dislike my cousin, it's just he's always smiling and he's always so formal. Anyways, today I have to meet Kaji at the Great Buddha and see if I can find a use for him._

**End Journal.**

Shinji looked up from his journal as Kaworu entered the tent that he had set up for him as a sort of office. Shinji had insisted that it was unnecessary but Kaworu, ever the traditionalist, had firmly opposed, stating that a Daimyo should have a place to do his work, even if his work was only estimating expenses and writing in his journal.

"You wanted to see me, my lord?" asked Kaworu.

"Yes, I wanted to speak to you about a little idea I had," Shinji said, he looked to Kaworu who nodded, "first things first, have you heard of a Ryoji Kaji?"

"Yes, my lord, he is said to be of the best of spies but few know what his face look like." answered Kaworu.

"I've met him, and have offered him work," at this Kaworu's eyes widened slightly, "I was thinking of sending him to Matsumoto"

"You're sending him to our home?" questioned Kaworu, bewildered.

"Yes, from Matsumoto he'll be able to spy on the Akagi domains, and keep an eye on the activity in my former domains, and provide information of my well being to Suzuhara and Aida," Shinji answered.

"I see, but then what is your little idea, my lord?"the intrigued Kaworu asked.

"All armies need good intel, and the only provider of that intel is going to be going to the Nagano prefecture, that's why I wanted to ask your opinion about having Kaji teach Asuka to be a spy." responded Shinji.

"My lord, your judgement is absolute. My personal opinion matters not in any decision you decide to make," Kaworu said, bowing his head in respect. Shinji just gaped at him as he broke into a smile. "I must apologize, my lord, I wanted to see how far I could take the formality before you snapped," he said with a chuckle, "However, I do agree that having Asuka as a spy could prove very useful." Shinji smiled, relieved.

"Good, figure out a way to test her and see how she holds her own," ordered Shinji. "Oh and, do that again and you'll be having a not so pleasant encounter with my fist" he told him glaring.

"Yes, my lord," Kaworu bowed as he exited the tent and Shinji let out a huge sigh. He rubbed his face with his palms several times before closing his eyes and trying to think about where he would move next.

"Yo!" the voice startled him so badly he almost had a heart attack, he stared at Asuka who was staring over his shoulder, "and here I was hoping to get a peek at that journal of yours, I'm sure all your perverted fantasies of me are written down in there. I must get it and expose you!" she proclaimed pointing a finger at his face, Shinji just sighed again.

"_when did she?_" he let out a heavy sigh, "_Asuka, there may be hope for your future as a spy_," he thought happily. He relaxed, just content enough to watch his friend rattle off reasons on why he was an idiot, a pervert and an inferior being. He sighed once more before smiling warily. "_That's Asuka for you_" he thought with a chuckle.

"Ah! what are you laughing, you glum bastard! Have at you!" and with that she pounced on the bewildered Shinji, who struggled to contain his mirth as Kaworu came in and separated them stating that it was inappropriate of her to act thus with her lord.

Asuka's answer? "Lord, my ass!" she said before plopping down in the corner of the tent. Shinji watched in amusement as an exasperated Kaworu walked out of the tent mumbling under his breath and then he gazed at Asuka.

"What? I'm taking a nap! this place is the only place there's shade and it's blistering hot outside, if you complain I'll just pummel you 'till you accept it," she huffed.

"_Asuka, I beat you last time_" he thought to himself, and as if she was reading his thoughts she answered.

"Last time you had a sword, so don't act so smug!" she proclaimed, and he found he couldn't argue with her on that point; as formidable a swordsman as he may be, she could beat him to death if she was his enemy and he was caught without it. A good thing it was then that the samurai code of honor forbid one from ever stepping anywhere without his sword.

_"Good thing she's my friend then_," he thought as he watched her settle down for a nap before continuing with his work.

* * *

Shinji walked down the long road overlooked by cherry trees in the direction of Kotoku-in. He sighed, as he would have rather liked to have visited the statue of the Great Buddha under better circumstances, and in spring rather then summer so he could have the opportunity to enjoy the cherry blossoms. Alas, things were not as he would wish them to be, and the person following him discreetly was not helping things.

Whoever it was, they were good at keeping themselves hidden but their movements were sluggish and gave them away. Sullenly he turned off the road onto a side road and ducked down, waiting for his tail. He quickly saw his opportunity as he grabbed the person and held them against a tree, dagger at their throat. His stalker turned out to be none other then Asuka. He stared at her, wondering why she would be following him. When she started blushing he realized how close their faces were and he could feel heat rising in his own cheeks. He berated himself, that was hardly behavior befitting a Daimyo, or so his cousin would say. He turned away, feigning anger when he was just trying to hide his blush.

"Why are you following me?" he demanded; Asuka, not used to being on the receiving end of his ruthless warlord side was struck speechless for a moment.

"Ah! um...well...err...," she stuttered nervously, her blush getting worse at her shame of herself. Shinji grew impatient and irritated.

"Spit it out!" he snapped; she was so surprised at his tone that she promptly fell on her butt and stared up at his looming back, and the threatening swords hanging from his waist.

"Sorry, sorry. It was Kaworu's fault, I swear he told me to follow you as discreetly as possible. I'm sorry," replied the frightened girl. Shinji sighed sensing he had been a bit too harsh on the girl, he turned back towards her and smiled.

"Don't worry, it's ok, I'm sorry for snapping at you." He offered her his hand and she took it. She was still frightened but within moments she was back to her normal self and felt quite miffed at having been treated so poorly. So, she proceeded to yell obscenities at a chuckling Shinji as they returned to the main road to the Great Buddha. As they approached the statue, Shinji could see a lone figure, sitting in the lotus position and smoking a pipe.

He called out to him, but the reactions he got were far from what he expected. First Kaji dropped his pipe as his mouth hung open in astonishment and second Asuka shot past him and launched herself at Kaji screaming his name ecstatically. Shinji was growing more puzzled by the minute over Kaji's astonishment and unease and Asuka's infatuation. However, his attempts at getting attention were promptly ignored so Shinji slipped into Daimyo mode.

"Enough!" he yelled out with great authority, causing the other two to freeze in their tracks "Now, I may be pretty lenient with you Asuka, regarding the way you address me, but I will not tolerate being ignored. You may not think so but I am a nobleman and a Samurai and I command respect. So you will promptly shut up and find a place to sit while I have a talk with Kaji-san. When this is done I'll have a talk with you on how you are to behave when we are in public." he said firmly; when he saw the young red-head's mouth open in protest he put his hand on his sword and said, "Asuka, you do realize that your father has given me the power of life and death over you, I suggest you consider that before you open your mouth, now I need to speak with Kaji-san in private." She closed her mouth fearfully, before opening it again.

"Yes, my lord." she mumbled frightened and dejectedly before skulking to the side and sitting down.

"Gee, Shinji don't you think you were a bit harsh?" asked Kaji warily.

"What goes for her goes double for you Kaji-san, address me with the proper respect when the time and circumstances demand it, such as now, when we are speaking about official Ikari clan business. Understood?" said Shinji tersely; Kaji visibly cringed but nodded nonetheless. "Understand this, Kaji-san, if you choose to come under my service you will become on of my men until the day you die or until the day I release you. Being associated with me means pledging your loyalty to me, as the Samurai code demands. Do you understand this?" he asked him. Kaji thought for a while before answering.

"Yes, my lord. I will obey your commands," he told Shinji, while bowing slightly. Shinji nodded before speaking once more.

"There are two things I need from you Kaji-san, the first is to teach Asuka the art of espionage. She's already very good at sneaking around, and you must teach her the basics within a single week so that she may teach herself the rest." Kaji nodded at this, glancing over at a sulking Asuka. "The second thing I need from you is that once you have finished with Asuka's week of training you head to Nagano in Chobu and from there seek out the town of Matsumoto. That is where my estates are, and my castle. From there you will keep an eye on the happenings in my domain, spy on the Akagi domains and report to me what my allies the Suzuhara and Aida clans are enduring during my absence. You will be awarded 200 gold pieces now, and will send me monthly reports, in 6 months you will report back to me and I will give you 50 more gold pieces and continue to do so every 6 months. Now, understand that these funds are for espionage purposes and not spend on questionable company, sake or smoking. Is that clear?" Shinji explained everything to the skilled intelligence gatherer.

"Very clear my lord, very well then I shall take Asuka and teach her the very basics now. Where shall we meet you?" he asked Shinji.

"Asuka knows," he told him before turning back and heading towards Asuka. He kneeled before her before saying "Asuka, I'm sorry," at this she looked up, "it's just that you have to understand that there are times when we can be friends, and laugh and joke, and then there are times when we must be serious, I hope you will understand that by the time you get back."

"I'm...not coming with you?" she asked sounding a bit hurt, "I don't want to be away from you and Kaworu, you're my first real friends!" she exclaimed, suddenly looking close to tears, "before it was just my papa, now you and Kaworu are all I have." she told him. Shinji shushed her gently and took her hand in his.

"Don't worry Asuka, you'll be back tonight, for now you need to go with Kaji-san, he'll explain everything," at this she nodded and he took his leave.

* * *

What Shinji discovered when he arrived at the campsite was not a pleasant sight. Kaworu had his sword drawn standing in front of a strange man wearing a red outfit with a sword out as well, his smile was gone from his face. Watching the scene was a man with a blue hakama and a pony tail, upon closer inspection Shinji noticed this man was wearing thin rimmed classes.

The ruffian looking man with the red outfit spoke out to Kaworu, "Come on man, just give us the money now." Shinji stepped past the other man wearily and addressed Kaworu.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked.

"My lord, these thieves tried to ambush me while I was checking the gold from Langley-san," said Kaworu, anger evident in his voice, suddenly a soft voice spoke out from behind him.

"This was all Mugen's doing, I hate to resort to such low tactics but we need money to stay at an inn for the night and to eat."

"Who are you?" asked Shinji.

"My name is Jin, and the ugly ruffian is Mugen," spoke the man in glasses.

"You should understand that the gold you're after is my property and I will not give it up so easily," Shinji sternly told him. And with that he rushed at Jin, drawing his sword only to have his strike meet air. He twisted the sword and attempted another slash but Jin parried it with his own sword. As they met in a clash of steel, the warriors grew increasingly impressed with the other's skills, except Mugen who was just frustrated at being held at bay by Kaworu. After some minutes of fighting, Shinji sighed and sheathed his sword. He motioned for Kaworu to do the same and spoke loudly.

"Enough! I have proposition for you two, and it involves the gold," he told them, getting them interested. "Please, follow me." he said as he walked into his tent, followed by a baffled Kaworu, and an intrigued Mugen and Jin.

**To Be Continued.**

**A/N: Wether Mugen and Jin stay in the story is up to the reviewers. Obviously the Samurai Champloo series takes place several hundred years after the story I'm writing happens as it is during the Edo period of the Tokugawa shogunate whilst my story takes place during the Sengoku era. So please vote on wether Mugen and Jin stay in the story or get booted out. I know Shinji seems to be bipolar with his interactions with Asuka, but know that he has two modes, the happy normal guy who doesnt mind being teased by his friends, and the completely down to business Daimyo who commands respect wether people like it or not. Kaji's relation to Asuka will be explained in the next chapter.**

**Beta by CrazyNinjaPenguin.**


	5. Gifts

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion belong to Gainax and Hideaki Anno. The name Samurai of Legend belongs to the online text-based samurai game.

A/N: I'd like to thank all of you who have reviewed, as well as apologize in advance if Jin and Mugen are not done well as I don't have any experience with writing them down, they don' seem to be that hard tho'.

**Samurai of Legend**

**Chapter 5: Beginning**

**Journal Entry 5**

_Well, I have certainly had my fair share of happenings today, between hurting Asuka's feelings and meeting those two strange ronin, Jin and Mugen. Jin seems like a typical masterless Samurai and if I play my cards right he could become a loyal follower of mine, Mugen however is a ruffian and a thug. He is unmatched in his fighting style and only seems to struggle against someone like Jin or Kaworu, or that's what Jin told me. _

_He told me that they had been traveling with a girl for some reason but were now split up and Mugen and Jin happened to meet each other in Kamakura. After trying to kill each other, they decided to go for sake and tried to get our gold to satiate their thirst. Well, I need Samurai to further my ambitions, and strong ones are much better then weak ones; however, Samurai are harder to round up than peasants so I think I'll take a page out of the Oda's book and get some Ashigarus from nearby villages. I'm sure that if we train their men to defend themselves they'll lets us have some of them for my army._

_I wonder why Asuka reacted the way she did upon seeing Kaji, throwing herself all over him like that; disgusting! She needs to learn some manners and to control herself. I wonder if she's actually doing any training right now or if she's still trying to get him to notice her. Pathetic. If Kaji touches her I'll make sure to cut off his fingers one by one. Wait, what am I saying, like I care, right?_

**End Journal**

Shinji peered at the last lines he had written in his journal in confusion; why did the thought of Kaji touching Asuka anger him like that? They had only known each other for a week, their first encounter had been a fight and he had almost executed her father that day. It did seem that they fit well together, at least to him. When he wasn't obsessing over important matters and could allow himself to be laid back he could enjoy her company.

Her craziness and happy attitude were probably the most important things to him. He was sure that if she had not been there to cheer him up and take his mind off things with her antics he would be wallowing in depression and self-loathing over failing his clansmen. He thought that his good mood was due in no small part to her, but still, why would he feel anything about anyone making advances on her? Surely she could choose whomever she wanted. He sighed deeply and leaned his head back.

"Don't worry, Shinji, you won't need to cut Kaji-kun's fingers off," Asuka told him as she hovered over his face. Shinji was so frightened at her appearance that he fell off his chair and landed on his back, causing her to giggle lightly at his antics.

"Wha? When did you get back?" he exclaimed.

"Just a few minutes ago" she told him, "I'm flattered that you would present me the opportunity to provide you vital intelligence, but knowing me it was only natural that I was to be chosen, as my skills are so much better then anyone else's" she said happily, feigning humility only to revert to her arrogant self. Shinji smiled and sighed at the same time and looked into her eyes, he blushed as he gazed at her sparkling ocean blue orbs and he turned away, he sat on his chair.

"Sit," he told her.

"Okay!" with that she sat on his lap, causing Shinji to blush furiously.

"W...W...WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" he screamed in shock.

"By the way, Shinji-kun, you know you're the only one that I would allow to 'touch' me, the only one," she said in a sultry and seductive voice, causing Shinji's blush to worsen, as all the blood in his body was directed to his face and 'other parts.' Asuka just let out a raucous laugh before picking herself off Shinji and sitting down across the table from him, still sniggering.

"That's not funny," mumbled Shinji, annoyed.

"Sorry, Shinji, but it was funny as hell! Besides, consider it your punishment for being so mean to me earlier," she huffed at him, still trying to bring a halt to her chuckling.

"Hai, hai," said Shinji with an amused smile, his smile got wider as Asuka smiled at him and soon both were chuckling at his expense. "Anyway, you know what you're gonna have to do, right?" he asked her, serious once again.

"Yes, sir," replied Asuka, realizing that this was now a serious conversation and that she did not want to overstep her boundaries like she had before when previously it had resulted in a harsh scolding as well as a threat to her life. "You're expecting me to fill the role that Kaji-san would be doing if he didn't have to go to your home town; that is to gather information pertinent to our enemies in close proximity to ourselves, this includes other spies, assassins as well as information on enemy armies," she assured him of her understanding.

"Very good, Asuka. I'm sure you'll be great, you already scare the crap out of me every day by sneaking up on me," he said, smiling at her.

She smiled back and said, "of course! That's to be expected of the great Sohryu Asuka Langley!" she then added with a short yawn, "now, if you don't mind Shinji, I'm gonna sleep." She soon retreated to a side of the tent that Shinji had dubbed "Asuka's corner" which was where she spent all her time resting. Incidentally it was right across the tent from where his own sleeping arrangements were located, but Shinji didn't make anything of it. After all, having a beautiful girl sleep in his tent was much more enjoyable to him than having his serious cousin do so.

He usually told Kaworu to sleep outside and keep an eye out for suspicious persons. It wasn't that he didn't like his cousin, but he had certain...cuddling tendencies that, while unimportant when they were younger, now made for extremely awkward and uncomfortable situations as Shinji had found out the other day when Kaworu had to sleep in the tent due to a rainstorm. Shinji sighed at this thought and went to the tent opening,

"Kaworu," he called out.

"Yes, my lord?" answered the ever faithful retainer.

"Tell our two to make themselves comfortable for the night, we'll speak tomorrow," he ordered.

"Yes, my lord," responded Kaworu.

"Oh, and try to answer me with words besides 'yes my lord' will you?" he told Kaworu with an annoyed expression.

"Yes, my lord" answered Kaworu, with a smirk that Shinji couldn't see

"Aah! Forget it!" exclaimed Shinji in frustration.

"Yes, my lord," Kaworu replied once more. Shinji just walked away annoyed; he could swear he heard three men laughing at his expense and frowned. He walked in front of Asuka and crouched in front of her sleeping form, he stayed like that for a while before moving his hand to brush a strand of hair out of her face, she opened one eye.

"Don't even think about it!" she told him firmly, Shinji just chuckled and brushed the hair anyway. "Why you! I'll get you for this!" she exclaimed angrily, then she let out a yawn. "Tomorrow," she finished before slipping into a deep sleep. Shinji just chuckled and went outside.

"Kaworu," he called out again.

"Yes?" the other answered.

"Go get me this; have it made if necessary," Shinji commanded as he gave Kaworu a scroll; Kaworu raised his eyebrows at the content and Shinji just shrugged, embarrassed. Kaworu nodded and walked off. Shinji went back into the tent and fell asleep on his futon.

* * *

Shinji was suffocating, his lungs screamed for air as he shot up from his sleep gasping for the much needed gas. He turned to Asuka who was grinning happily next to him.

"YOU! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO DO!? KILL ME?!" he screamed at her.

"Oh relax, I wasn't gonna kill you, I told you I would get you back last night, didn't it?" she answered him, still grinning.

"YEAH! BUT I DIDN'T THINK YOU WOULD TRY TO ASSASSINATE ME IN MY SLEEP!" he raged at her still smug face; the words 'kill' and 'assassinate' however did not go unnoticed by the people outside the tent and Kaworu rushed in with his sword drawn looking ready to tear someone apart,

"My lord! Where is the assassin? I shall rip their every limb from their body!" he exclaimed agitated, his eyes darting around and around for the source of the threat; Shinji held his hand up.

"Relax Kaworu, it was just Asuka's version of a joke, I'm fine really. You can stand down," Shinji assured; Kaworu looked around the tent once more before putting his sword away.

"My lord, a messenger from the Aida came this morning bearing a belonging of yours," he informed Shinji, who looked up at the sudden change in subject.

"Very well, what is it?" he asked, Kaworu opened the tent flap and nodded at someone outside; the man was average looking, with the samurai top knot and the normal build. His swords were in Mugen's hand, causing Shinji to question what was going on.

"Heh, I just don't want you to get killed before you tell us your idea 'bout that gold, boy," he told the young daimyo. Kaworu was about to speak up and spark yet another confrontation between himself and Mugen, but Shinji silenced him with a motion of the hand to which Kaworu bowed. He turned to the messenger who kneeled and kowtowed before him, before presenting him with a cloth wrapped bundle.

"Lord Ikari, My Lord was aware that you had taken your family sword, but had not been able to save the entire set, therefore he had sent many men to find them for you. As a token of good will and loyalty, my lord offers you the wakizashi and tanto that match your family heirloom." The man unwrapped the cloth to present a wakizashi with the same dragon motif that was on his sword, and a small tanto also with the same motif. He then brought in a display stand for the sword, with two dragons making up the sides while their limbs provided a place to put the tanto and wakizashi, and their open jaws were made to hold the sword. Shinji nodded graciously, before accepting the gifts.

"One more thing, lord Ikari. Lord Suzuhara apologizes for not being able to send his own messenger to you, and he instead has given me his gift to you. This sword set was made especially for you, sir. It was forged during your absence by the very best sword-smith in the east of Japan." The messenger now presented another sword set to Shinji, this one looked more inconspicuous then his other sword. The scabbard was made of cherry bark painted dark blue and held a diamond motif carved and painted gold near the end of the scabbard. He unsheathed and took a look at the blade; It was of much better quality then his heirloom, as that was a ceremonial blade and not a battle blade. He nodded before placing the Dragon sword in Kaworu's hands and watched him put it on the stand with the other blades of the set. Then he put the new sword and wakizashi in his belt. He took a length of cloth, grabbed his old wakizashi and walked to Asuka. He turned her around and reached over her back, tying the cloth in front of her chest and securing the blade against her back. He turned her around once more and looked her in the eye.

"This is your weapon now, Asuka. I've had this sword for many years, the katana that went with it was broken during the assault, but this short blade is important to me so take care of it," he told her.

"I will, and thanks" she replied, nodding. Shinji turned back to the man in front of him and spoke.

"I wish to know what is happening back there," Shinji made inquiry.

"Nothing much, sir, everything is very tense but there have been no acts of aggression and my lord and lord Suzuhara are waiting for your return diligently," the man imparted; Shinji nodded before turning to Kaworu.

"Kaworu, fetch me 1,100 pieces of gold," he ordered. Kaworu nodded and walked out, coming back in with a large purse and handing it to Shinji who addressed the messenger once more, "Give 500 pieces to Aida, and 500 to Suzuhara. It's not much but it's all I can spare for now, you keep 100 for yourself." The man nodded and professed his thanks before walking out of the tent and taking his swords from Mugen, he mounted his horse and rode away.

"Kaworu, do you have what I asked you to get?" asked Shinji.

"Yes, my lord, and since today seems to be a day for gifts, let me present my gift to you first." He walked out and came back with a suit of armor. "This was made by the finest armorer in Kanagawa prefecture, I had it made a few weeks ago, and I hope that you like it." The armor was made of dark blue strips of leather entwined with green and black silk threads. Gold decorations adorned the iron chest and arm guards. The helmet was also made of dark blue iron, with the neck guard in black tied together by strips of green silk woven into the armor. In the middle of the helmet, a three pronged golden crest was added, and on the sides of the helmet two strips of iron were pulled back as if the helmet was a flower and the petals were unfurling to show the wearer's face. These strips in black as well and carved in real gold was the mon, a maple leaf. Shinji turned to Kaworu.

"Thank you Kaworu, it's beautiful, but this isn't the Ikari Mon," he said.

"Indeed, my lord, but I thought that with you, the Ikari clan was going through a new beginning, rising from the ashes of your father's clan; so I designed this mon for you, as I remembered the times we spent learning kenjutsu from your father and sparring together underneath that beautiful maple tree," Kaworu said with a nostalgic look on his face. Shinji nodded before thanking him again, a gesture that Kaworu shrugged off stating, "_A daimyo should have armor befitting him_."

After the armor was presented to him, Shinji presented Asuka with a gift as well, an outfit that will be fitting to her new occupation of spy. She took the garment, which consisted of a long sleeveless jacket that would fall to mid-thigh length and a tight skirt that ended just above the knees. The jacket was deep red with golden dragon motifs on the sides. He also included new arm-guards and shin-guards for her. Kaworu next stepped forward and gave her another garment. This was a traditional happi, straight long sleeved jacket that was to be worn over her outfit. It too was red, but on the back in dark blue and white was the mon that was also on Shinji's helmet. This would prove that she was a soldier of the Ikari clan. She smiled; she had received a new outfit and a sword from Shinji and she was happy to be bestowed with so many gifts. She hugged Shinji quickly and mumbled a quick, "thank you."

"Yeah, yeah, just go train with Kaji," he told her and she nodded before dashing out of the tent. Shinji sighed, "everyone, I'd like some privacy for a while, Mugen, Jin I'll address you in an hour with my offer."

Jin nodded and dragged Mugen outside before he could start protesting. Kaworu bowed before stepping outside and sitting down next to the tent opening. Shinji heard him protest as someone entered the tent once more. Shinji looked up to see Asuka standing there in her new outfit, with her wakizashi and a happy smile.

"What do you think?" she asked him, before he could answer however Kaji's voice was heard from outside urging Asuka to hurry up and she dashed out as quickly as she had come in.

"You look beautiful and deadly," Shinji mumbled to nobody in particular before opening his journal.

**To Be Continued**

**AN: Shinji's armor looks like the one Tom Cruise wears in the last samurai, except in dark blue. I hope you weren't hoping for me to get him in purple did you? :D his mon is a maple leaf, if you want to see go to img365(dot)imageshack(dot)us/img365/9182/45037377ly1(dot)jpg**

**Asuka's outfit looks like Misao Makamichi from Rurouni Kenshin, except in red and with gold dragons on the side and without that big ass pink bow, instead a simple black belt.**

**sorry, to all my readers who were expecting more explanations on Asuka's behavior and Mugen and Jin, I know this seems like just a measly filler but it was necessary to move the story along. After all you may have noticed that the plot isn't moving anywhere yet, that's because there are still some things i need to establish firmly before I can move on to the thicker parts of the plan i.e Shinji's rise to power and regaining his lands. thank you all for reviewing, especially Hououza, Sith-KnightGalen and Illogically.inclined for adding your advice.**

**Beta by CrazyNinjaPenguin**


	6. Reminiscing, Planning

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion belong to Gainax and Hideaki Anno. The name Samurai of Legend belongs to the online text-based samurai game.

**Samurai of Legend**

**Chapter 6: Reminiscing, Planning**

**Journal Entry 6**

_I can't believe Kaworu did that; it was very nice of him to do so, and the fact that the suit of armor was finished in just about a week and yet feels to be of such a good quality shows how dedicated he is. He may not show it, but I know he cares for me; he probably spent all his savings to get the best possible armor. I bet he didn't even touch the gold to have it made, which is what makes his gift all the more significant. _

_And the new mon, the Maple leaf, it is astounding that this simple symbol that I had never seen previously hit me so hard once he explained why he had drawn it. I remember, every day my father, Kaworu and I we would go out of the castle and climb this hill and at the top of it was a majestic maple tree where my father would teach us swordsmanship; it was a tall and difficult climb and I once asked my father why he made us do that. _

_"To train your sword skills is not enough Shinji, you must also train your stamina, your muscles and your resilience. Climbing that hill every day for the sole purpose of training and learning builds in you strength and the ability to endure, but most importantly it instills in you the sense of exerting yourself for what you want to accomplish, of being strong enough in your mind that nothing will stop you from getting what you want. Today, it's a hill, trying to hinder you from learning the art of the sword, tomorrow it's 20,000 enemy soldiers, trying to stop you from expanding the glory of our clan. The difference is only minute, as all you need to do is overcome these things, once you understand that fully, you will be unstoppable," was what he had said to me. _

_Now that I think upon it, that teaching may have been the most important one of my life. I could have learned to fight the way I do in the castle courtyard, but never could I have had the inhuman strength of mind to continue had he not taught me as he did. There were many times on my journey that I wanted to kill myself; I thought that if I did then the trouble would be over. Kensuke and Touji could be free from the bonds of loyalty and could pursue what they wanted, mother and Rei were safe already safe in China, and Kaworu was living his life fine without the clan, so what was the point of continuing. _

_Every time that these dark thoughts came upon me I heard my father's voice, like an envoy from heaven, "Shinji, giving up is not something that you can do, many times you will feel that ending your endeavor or even ending yourself will benefit the people around you; I know I have thought such thoughts, but you can never let those thoughts take you over Shinji. They will poison you, because the truth is, people do need you. I need you to carry on my name and also because you're my son, your mother needs you because she loves you, the clansmen need you because you're their future and the soldiers need you because you'll be their general. Never forget that no matter how low you feel, people will always need you. They may not depend on you but they will always need you if only for their peace of mind. So remember to never give up Shinji, because when you give up, you not only let yourself down, but also the people that you care for and that care for you."_

_I have to say, without the words of wisdom he had taught me during my childhood, I would not be where I was now. If Asuka and Kaworu allow me to lift my head and heart today, my father lent me his strength yesterday._

**End Journal Entry.**

"Kaworu," Shinji called out after putting away his journal.

"Yes, my lord?" answered the ever faithful retainer.

"Send me Jin and Mugen, and come in, this concerns you as well," he ordered.

"As you wish my lord," Kaworu replied, and went to address the other two men while his lord listened, "Jin-san, if you would please go see my lord. Mugen, you perverted little bastard stop ogling that girl and go see my lord." Shinji had to laugh at the absurdity of it all. When Jin popped his head into the tent and bowed, Shinji motioned to the small cushion in front of his desk and Jin sat on it, in the lotus position. Mugen then entered the tent, throwing a quick 'yo' at Shinji before sprawling onto the other cushion. Kaworu came in bowed and sat on Shinji's right, like he always did.

"Now, this is what I propose to you two; first off, what I want you to do is as follows: Jin you will be in command of the swordsmen of my army and Mugen you will train peasants to fight like you so you can be used as shock troops," Shinji told them.

"Excuse me, what exactly do you mean by 'in command of the swordsmen'?" asked Jin quietly.

"Basically, my army will actually be five different armies. There will be the samurai swordsmen army, that you command, the peasant shock troops, that Mugen commands, the samurai cavalry that Kaworu commands, and two final groups consisting of spearman and archers of samurai and peasant classes. All of these will have several units made up of several hundreds of warriors and all those warriors will answer to you, and you answer to me" explained Shinji "is this understood?"

"So basically," this time Mugen spoke up "we can do anything we damn please so long as it ain't against what you ordered. Like we can position ourselves anywhere we want to surprise the enemy as long as we don't charge 'em before you say we can?" he asked.

"Exactly, you will rely on your own intelligence most of the time unless I give you specific orders on how to maneuver and place your troops, and you will have to follow my orders." Shinji answered.

"So, what's in it for us?" asked Mugen.

"First, a stipend of 150 gold pieces every two months. When we get my domains back, you'll both get 250 koku worth of land, and after we beat the Akagi you will get another 250 koku worth of land, which will make 500 kokus worth of land for each of you, giving you enough money to be drunk, surrounded by prostitutes and geishas for the rest of your life and still get a lavish funeral. In other words, you'll have more money than you'll know what to do with. Of course, this comes with a price, you'll have to swear allegiance to me until the day you die or I release you, I will be your lord and master and hold the power of life and death over you. But it's not as bad as you'd think, I don't ask much of you, just that you don't fight in public for idiotic reasons and that you obey me in battle," Shinji explained the circumstances.

Jin took on a carefully contemplative expression before answering, "I would like to be able to settle down, and this seems a great opportunity, however I have an obligation to Mugen and so if he refuses, I shall have to as well." Shinji turned to Mugen.

"What do you say Mugen? There'll be more fighting then you've ever seen, and by the time we're done you'll never want to hold a sword again," he tried to convince the uncouth man.

"Shock troops eh?" Shinji nodded. "And what do we do?" Mugen asked.

"Basically, while the troops fight on, your troops flank the enemy, charge them, attack in ways completely unconventional whereas that they won't understand what hit them and they'll eventually break. You are 'shock troops' because your job is to shock the enemy into submission by unleashing a ferocious and devastatingly fast attack and then following with a cavalry charge to break their back while they're dazed," Shinji explained.

"Sounds fun enough. Guess I'll do it!" answered Mugen, grinning.

"Then so will I," said Jin quietly.

"Very well! That's great, now my first order to all three of you, is to go to the town and try to find some skilled spear or naginata wielding ronin and a skilled archer ronin. If you do, then after you bring them to me, I'll allow you to go out to the town, get drunk and do what you wish" said Shinji breaking into a grin. The three nodded.

"Yes, my lord," they said, except Mugen who just said "right" they filed out of the tent but Kaworu lagged behind.

"Not now, Kaworu, I want to be alone. Take Kaji with you."

"And Asuka?" Kaworu asked.

"Only if she wants to," Shinji responded. Kaworu nodded and walked off. Shinji got up wearily before kneeling in front of the dansho set that displayed his father's sword, he gazed at it lost in thought before speaking up. "Say, Asuka," he said; hearing a crash he saw that Asuka had fallen over after being startled by him noticing her. "Can I trust you?" he questioned. At this she looked up at him,

"Of course you can, baka Shinji" her voice was soft despite her words, and she approached him. When she sat next to him she noticed unshed tears in his eyes. "What's wrong, Shinji?" she asked him.

"This just brings back bad memories," he said, motioning the dansho.

"Memories of what?" asked Asuka quietly.

"Of how useless and cowardly I am," he spoke out in a harsh whisper.

Don't say that Shinji, you're none of those things," she assured him with confidence.

"How would _you_ know!?" he yelled, "you weren't there! when those bastards attacked us, when they broke through the walls during my father's _funeral_! and the only thing I could do was hide! All I'm good at doing, I'm still just hiding, like I was then, cowering inside a locked castle in a corner. Cowering like a wet dog that just got beaten for tracking dirt in, crying as I listened to my men screaming as they were slaughtered, each of their deaths whispered in my ear of how it was my fault, how my armies were running around like headless chickens because their leader was busy crying in self-pity in a corner. Finally, I had enough, so I went to my father's bedroom to kill myself, and I didn't even have the courage to spill my own worthless guts. When they finally came for me, I waited, sword in hand, to be killed, but my men rescued me, allowing time to escape into the courtyard before they were cut down.

"I tried to pull myself together, when this young man, my age, came running at me with a spear, I just held out my sword and sidestepped, watching him impale himself on the blade, staring into his frightened and mournful eyes as he died by my hand. That was the first time I killed someone, after that I just wondered around in a daze not knowing what to do, it was my mother's screams that shook me out of it. They were trying to drag her away when I finally found my strength, strength that I didn't even know I had. I rescued her and rallied my remaining men before sending her away with them. I left alone on a lonely journey to atone, and every night I could do nothing as the screams, whispers and faces of the dead came to haunt me. I managed to block them out, but I still have nightmares. I'm still as I was back then, useless and hiding. Not doing anything to avenge my clan. I'm pathetic!" he ranted, panting as he finished his story, tears flowing down his face.

"Shinji" Asuka whispered softly, "you're not pathetic, I saw you fight and I see every day the dedication you put into planning how to restore your clan's honor. You're not hiding or cowering, you're biding your time like a strong daimyo should. Look at Tokugawa-sama, he's just lying in wait as well, waiting for his big opportunity, and one day he'll have one, just like you will if you keep your patience," she tried her best to placate him by addressing his worries.

"Asuka..." Shinji whimpered, tears flowing from his eyes even faster, "thank you!" With that he latched onto her. She just hugged him back shushing him. when he had quieted she started to speak,

"You know, when I was a little girl, about five years old, my mother was murdered. She was the last of a great clan that had been destroyed some generations back, and the people who did it wanted to make sure that clan was ended completely, so they had her killed. I'm the one who found her body... there was so much blood..." she stopped speaking, but started again "after that, my father became very paranoid, and the only people I was ever allowed to talk to were him, my sensei and Kaji-san. You see, back then Kaji-san worked for my father, watching over me and looking out in case people were trying to kill me. I had a crush on him, that's why I was acting as I did when we were reunited. He was the only thing close to a friend I had ever had, until I met you and Kaworu." She pulled back to look him in the eye. "Shinji, you're the first friend I've ever had, and you're my best friend. Please don't put yourself down, you're too great to be doing that." and with that she hugged him again.

"You're the one that's great Asuka. Ever since you started sleeping here the nightmares have gone away, you keep my demons at bay, thank you." Shinji was immensely grateful for what Asuka was doing, and he decided to try and lighten the mood a little. "Kaworu would have a fit if he saw us like that" he said with a soft chuckle

"Yes he would," Asuka agreed, smiling, "but everyone, even a Daimyo needs to be comforted." she told him. She then abruptly added, "well expect me, I don't need to be comforted."

"Yeah, because you're the great Sohryu Asuka Langley" he chuckled, then he pulled away from her and took her face in his hands, "But even if you don't need me to, I will comfort you, I will protect and I will make you happy!" he told her firmly.

"Shinji?" she whispered softly as their faces started to close the distance between them. Right then the tent burst open.

"My lord! We have found the men you asked us to look for!" exclaimed Kaworu, giddily, in fact he was so excited he missed the exchange between Shinji and Asuka, which left Asuka blushing furiously before she disappeared using some sort of secret passageway, and Shinji muttering obscenities under his breath. He got up and went to his desk.

"Very well, send them in," Shinji ordered; Kaworu nodded and two men walked in, one had long shoulder length hair and a naginata that was almost a head taller then he was, which was tall considering the man was almost two heads taller then Kaworu and Kaworu was 175 cm tall. The other man was shorter and was carrying an ornate bow and had a quiver on his back.

"I'm Aoba Shigeru, I'm considered a master of the naginata and the yari. I am ronin following the defeat of my master's army, and that the man committed sepukku shortly afterwards," the tall man informed Shinji.

"I'm Hyuga Makoto. I have been trained all my life as an archer and people have nicknamed me '_Tametomo's descendant_' after Minamoto no Tametomo who sunk a ship with a single arrow," said the shorter one to Shinji.

"We were informed on the way here of the offer, and the way it was to be carried out as well as the pay and rewards, I accept the terms, and I submit to you as your servant and retainer," spoke the tall man, Aoba.

"And so do I, my lord, from this day forward I shall be at your service until the day I die," agreed Hyuga, bowing deeply. Shinji was speechless, he barely placed a word in.

"Umm, okay, make yourselves at home. Kaworu go buy some tents, I think that you, Jin and Mugen as well as Aoba-san and Hyuga-san should not have to sleep outside," said Shinji.

"Very well, so should that be a tent per person?" asked Kaworu, everyone agreed that a tent for one person was best..

"So, that makes myself, Asuka-san, Kaji-san, Aoba-san, Hyuga-san, Jin-san and Mugen. that's seven tents to buy then." he spoke whilst everyone nodded, Shinji frowned at the count but no-one noticed.

"Ah, I don't need a tent, I'm fine where I am," Asuka said, speaking out over Shinji's shoulder, once again causing him to jump at her sudden appearance.

"Asuka, it is not pro..." Kaworu started.

"Silence!" uttered Shinji harshly, taking Kaworu completely by surprise, except Asuka who grinned smugly.

"She's made her choice and I like the way it is right now, it keeps me sane, now argue one more time about this and you'll have to carry the tents back to camp with my sheath shoved up somewhere not very pleasant for you, and not the nice smooth sheath of my new sword, but the one with a dragon carved on the side of it," threatened Shinji, causing Kaworu to gasp loudly, Jin to smile slightly, Asuka to giggle, Aoba and Hyuga to snicker and Mugen to laugh so loud that the entire neighborhood was woken up.

"Y-Yes, my lord," said Kaworu, bowing quickly and hastily exiting the tent.

"You're all dismissed. Asuka, where's Kaji?" he asked her before she left.

"Oh he went out to Edo and he asked me to meet him halfway there, it should only take a few hours to get there," she told him.

"Very well, go," he responded, "oh and Asuka," he called out and she turned to look at him, "be careful" he said, blushing slightly, she nodded, also blushing, before disappearing from his sight. Shinji sighed heavily before laying his head on his desk.

**To be continued.**

**AN: well, I introduced Shinji's plan for Mugen and Jin as well as his plan for fighting. I also introduced the new characters, Aoba and Makoto since people were clamoring to know what they would be up to. I filled in a lot about Shinji's background in this one, and Asuka's background too. I hope this satisfies the people who were wondering why Asuka was so attached to Shinji after only a few days together. hope you like it. I would like to answer some questions and clear up some confusion that people may have, the timeline first. This is sometime after 1567, which means the Imagawa clan is powerless, the most powerful are the Oda, Takeda and Uesugi. Tokugawa is allied with Oda and so on and so forth. About learning the politics and stuff in the Akagi clan and other places. To clear this up, this story will never hold a scene without Shinji, this is his tale as told through the journal except that the entries are what you would read and the rest are just in 3rd person. This is basically you reading a render of his journal so anything he doesn't know, you don't know. You **_**will**_** learn the politics but not through characters but rather through Shinji reading Kaji's report. So lots of things are happening and just as you don't know much, Shinji doesn't know much but that will change as soon as Kaji sets off to Nagano.**

**I'd like to thank SithKnight-Galen, Daetor, marduk report and Hououza for their reviews, they have been very helpful to me and thank you for reviewing so much, it's very helpful and flattering to know that you guys read my story and like it.**

**Thank you, CrazyNinjaPenguin for the beta.**

**just a quick ps, im surprised at how well this chapter flows, i didnt need to put one of those separation thingies once! I guess I'm getting better  
P.P.S: if anyone understands the significance of Shinji's confession regarding his relationship with asuka, tell me, and i'll tell you if you got it right.**


	7. Worries

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion belong to Gainax and Hideaki Anno. The name Samurai of Legend belongs to the online text-based samurai game.

**Samurai of Legend**

**Chapter 7: Worries**

**Journal Entry 7**

_That girl is really something; she surprises me every day. At first I thought she was just a spoiled brat, then I found out she was an arrogant but kind girl, and now I've discovered that she's a very caring person who's trying to prove her existence. She may not admit it, but I know that the secluded life she has been forced to live leads her to want people to recognize her skills as a warrior, her beauty as a woman and her worth as a person. According to her, I'm the first person to have done that. _

_On another note, I almost kissed her! And then Kaworu walked in. I wonder if I should be angry or relieved at that. Anyways, it seems that everything is working out; we have a talented archer and a talented spearman who have now joined us. Asuka went out to meet Kaji somewhere and Mugen and Jin are training with Kaworu and Aoba. I must admit his Naginata skills are very impressive; I wonder if he's as good with a Yari. Here comes Kaji, but Asuka isn't with him I wonder what's going on._

**End Journal**

Shinji got up from his seat on the felled tree and tucked his journal entry into his kimono before lifting his sword and walking towards Kaji. It was the first time in three days that he had seen him, since he and Asuka had left.

"Yo! Shinji, what's up?" greeted the smiling unkempt spy as he approached him.

"I'm good, where's Asuka?" Shinji inquired, looking around for his friend.

"I sent her on a mission," Kaji told him with a wink and a smile, "she went to gather intelligence one of Tokugawa's army camps!"

"W-What?" stuttered Shinji paling considerably.

"Yeah, she's supposed to go in, find out how many soldiers there are, approximately, find out where they store their weapons, and their gunpowder, and find out where the chief stays," Kaji said, nodding happily before taking his pipe and putting it in his mouth and drawing on it contentedly.

What he failed to notice was Shinji shaking with rage at what he had just heard; Kaworu noticed, however, and started to rush forward but he was too late. Shinji's blade flashed in the late afternoon as he drew and slashed in a single, lighting fast stroke before replacing the sword in its sheath. Kaji gasped, the pipe was flying from his mouth; he watched it split in half as he fell back on his ass. Shinji approached him menacingly, his left hand shaking as his knuckles turned white from the grip he had on the sword's scabbard.

"You...You're joking right?" Shinji asked him, his voice eerily calm compared to what his body was portraying.

"N-No, She's gone there already," answered Kaji shakily.

"You've sent a girl, who's been trained as a shinobi for four days to spy on one of Tokugawa Ieyasu's camps? Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of Oda Nobunaga's strongest allies?" Shinji spoke softly, he grit his teeth and drew his sword, holding at Kaji's throat. "ARE YOU INSANE!?" Shinji latent anger suddenly broke out; there was a clearly a malevolent look in his eyes as he took a step toward the man.

"N-No, Shinji, w-wait, I told the camp captain not to hurt her if she gets caught," stuttered Kaji, eyes fixed on the menacing blade in front of him.

"Right, of course, but the camp captain didn't tell his men because that would defeat the purpose of the test" said Shinji, a cold-eyed scowl about his face.

"y-yea..." answered Kaji.

"WHAT IF THEY KILL HER ON SIGHT, YOU MORON!" Shinji fumed, bearing his teeth. He swung his sword in high arc towards Kaji's head, but instead of meeting the soft flesh of the man's neck, his sword screeched as it impacted the cold steel of another sword.

"My lord, we should at least give him a chance before resorting to such measures, let us wait for Asuka, if she does not return then you shall carry out the punishment that is fitting the crime," spoke Kaworu as he struggled to hold back Shinji's sword.

"Move Kaworu!" cried Shinji, shooting his friend a deadly glare. Kaworu didn't budge "I SAID MOVE, DAMN IT!" he out right screamed this time, his hands furiously trying to bat back the other's sword.

"My lord," said Kaworu, trying to calm the other, "Shinji, please, this isn't right, you need to calm yourself. Would father have done something so hot headed if he were in this position."

"_Always remember Shinji, think through what you do and if possible, always plan everything before acting_" Shinji heard Gendo's voice. As these words, along with Kaworu's, washed over him, Shinji withdrew his sword and placed it back in its sheath before tucking it into his obi.

"If she gets hurt, Kaji, I'll make you wish not only you, but your entire bloodline had never existed," he whispered harshly to the shaking Kaji.

"U-understood!" said Kaji shakily, he looked over at Kaworu as Shinji walked away and opened his mouth.

"No need to thank me, I only stopped him because we need you later on; if he kills you we lose an asset, frankly, I am disgusted at how you put that girl in such great danger with so little training," sneered Kaworu before leaving a defeated Kaji slumped on the ground, Shigeru and Mugen tried to cheer the poor man up with little success.

* * *

"Where is he?" sighed Kaworu, frustrated, walking through the streets of Kamakura in search for his lord. Shinji watched him pass by as he hid in the alleyway, before heading in the opposite direction.

"_How could Kaji endanger Asuka like that? It's too early to be sending her to spy on some Tokugawa camp! At the very least thank god it's not some other daimyo's camp, like Ishida or Oda. Tokugawa has a lenient approach to prisoners, not like those who still use rape as a means to torture. Oda really is ruthless, I hope he gets his due soon. I'm sure he will!_" Shinji mused whilst walking calmly through the streets. Lost in his own thoughts, Shinji bumped into a man that was walking down the street.

"Oi! Why don't you apologize, little brat!" the man yelled at Shinji, Shinji looked up at him with a sneer.

"Shove it, fool" he said.

"You bastard I'll teach you to insult me!" the man snarled as two men came up to him and stood at his side. Shinji shifted his saya in his obi so that the blade of the sword was pointing towards the ground and, in one swift movement, drew the sword from the saya and traced it across the first man's chest. He followed this with a quick flick of the wrist and an adjustment to the sword's trajectory and cut the man on his right across the neck. Finally, he spun on his heel and swung the sword at the neck of the third man, stopping it barely an inch away from his skin. The halt was so sudden that flecks of blood were sent from the sword onto the terrified man's face.

"You wanted to teach me something?" Shinji asked coldly; the man shook his head in fear before turning tail and running away as fast as he could. Shinji stared down at the second victim, watching him grasp at his slit throat as he choked on his own blood. The blood-letting managed to quell some of the anger that was still broiling around in his chest. Eventually he took pity on the man writhing on the floor, stepping over him and shoving the sword straight through his heart, killing him instantly. He flicked the blood off of his sword before slowly replacing it in its saya, and once again he shifted the sheath in his obi so that the blade was pointing upwards. Shinji started to walk away when he heard someone calling his name.

"My lord! My lord!" Kaworu yelled as he ran towards Shinji.

"Shit," Shinji cursed softly before turning to see Kaworu approaching him.

"My lord, you need to get to the campsite, quickly!" Kaworu said whilst tugging on Shinji's sleeve.

When they arrived at the campsite, Shinji's eyes widened at the display before him; right there, in perfect formation stood fifty swordsmen and in front of them, a laughing Asuka joking at something with Kaji. Shinji slowly approached the congregation, still not able to grasp the situation.

"Jin fetched me as soon as they arrived, that's why I've been looking for you," said Kaworu.

"Th-that's our old mon, that's my clan's mon!" exclaimed Shinji as he stepped into view of the warriors, who, all at once, kneeled in front of him, the banners that were hanging off the lower ranks' backs snapping in unison at the sudden movement, "how?"

"Well, I stumbled upon these guys when I was getting back from that mission Kaji-san gave me, and I recognized that symbol from before Kaworu had that new one made. Of course they weren't in full armor then. Anyway, I asked them who they were and they said that they were ronin, former retainers of the Ikari clan, now without a master and I told them you were here. So we came here, but they insisted on dressing for the occasion," explained Asuka with a smile, Shinji nodded.

"Wait in my tent, Asuka, then you can give me your report" he said, and she nodded, Shinji turned to the swordsmen.

"My lord, we apologize for not being here for you through these tough months. The only thing that has stopped us from spilling our own guts was the uncertainty concerning your death. No one had actually seen you slain so we decided to wait until we knew for sure before we killed ourselves. We are all glad for that decision," the man at the front spoke, "I am Hyoruki Toshizo, of the Hyoruki clan, we have been your family's retainers for the past twelve generations, and I am glad that we shall remain as such, at least for an additional one." He bowed to Shinji.

And so it went, all the retainers introducing themselves as well as how long their clans had served his. He nodded at each one but only kept special note of the three members of the eldest retainer clans: Hyoruki, Kitabi Sojiro, and Nanae Sanosuke. He even allowed the common samurai to introduce themselves to him, even though being of such low ranks they never expected him to remember their names. Shinji told Kaworu to prepare them adequately before entering his tent. He rushed over to the idling Asuka and gathered her up in his arms, hugging her as close to him as he could without actually hurting her.

"You idiot! Do you realize how worried I was? You've trained for barely a week and you decide to accept that fool's mission to go spy on Tokugawa?" he spoke into her ear, trying to contain his emotions.

"It's all right Shinji, they weren't gonna get me, I was trained by the best, even if it _was_ for a short period of time," she reassured him, "I'm not gonna get killed by people like these soldiers Shinji, it's okay."

Shinji just held her for a while, before finally letting her go. When both their blushes had died down, he demanded to hear her report and was surprised at just how thorough it was. It included where everyone ate, where the food was prepared, where they slept, how many soldiers, where the captain slept, where he ate, where he worked, everything, even a map of the camp. After she was done, Shinji sat down at his desk and started making a financial scroll. Now that he had troops, even if there were only 50, he needed to keep track of expenditures, from stipends to food expenses. As he slaved away at accommodating for the new arrivals, Asuka fell asleep in her little corner and Shinji finally felt content for the first time in days.

**THE END!...just kidding, haha**

**sorry for not having updated sooner but I got ill (yea, in summer, damn AC) and not only that, but I had to deal with physio therapy appointments and I have to get an MRI for an ankle problem, plus ive been slaving away at work, so i found very little time to write. The only I had was spent watching the whole series of D.N.Angel (in 2 days) instead of writing, cuz apparently illness, gives me writer's block, so now I finally got some inspiration.**

**Some facts(correct me if i'm wrong)**

**I've no idea wether or not Oda or Ishida used rape for torture,**

**In the context of my story, retainers are not like ordinary samurai, they are the samurai that hold position of importance within the castle, and are more important then the ordinary footsoldiers and such. So a retainer would be like all 5 of Shinji's generals, now that there's three more, their duties will be explained in chapter 8. So these guys are valuable, if they fall in battle it sucks for Shinji, not the same as the nameless samurai who owns a 50 koku piece of land and who's only basic use is to kill other nameless samurai. Of course there's also the Ashigaru(peasants) but they'll come later.**

**one last note, those who might not know: the obi is the belt made of cloth that holds the kimono closed as well as holds the swords of the samurai. Also, the saya is the sheath or scabbard.**

**Beta from CrazyNinjaPenguin**


	8. Preparations

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion belong to Gainax and Hideaki Anno. The name Samurai of Legend belongs to the online text-based samurai game.

**AN:from this point on, the story will not only be told through scenes that require Shinji present, any of Shinji's generals will also be able to take the spotlight from time to time. But never will you learn some huge revelation/twist unless Shinji knows it as well.**

**Samurai of Legend**

**Chapter 8: Departure**

**Journal Entry 8**

_This is an unbelievable stroke of luck! I can hardly believe that 50 of my clansmen managed to find me and amongst them three are members of the most senior retainer families! I remember Hyoruki-san's father helping me with my calligraphy on quiet mornings in case I hadn't finished my father's assignments on time. I can also remember Nanae-san's young son rushing through the castle to bring tea to my father, and then chasing his sister around the castle. From the quiet ferocity I see gleaming in both these men's eyes, and I understand. It is the same glow that I found in my eyes, days after the massacre whilst I gazed into a clear pool of water, the slow rush of a building rage that you can only feel through having to watch your family get murdered by blood-lusting dogs! _

_No, calling the Akagi dogs is an insult to dogs, dogs are loyal creatures and help man, the Akagi are worse than the most abhorred creature on this earth. Ah, I wonder what has become of Kitabi-san's cousin, she was always so nice to me, like a big sister, she always used to make advances on me despite being almost ten years older then I am, and I swear I've never seen anyone, let alone a woman, able to drink that much sake! I have no doubt in my mind that she's fine though; she's far too cunning to be taken down by sloppy idiots like the Akagi. If they couldn't even stop me and 200 riders from escaping then there's no way in hell that she fell prey to them._

_Asuka's back so I've forgiven Kaji, what was he thinking anyways? Sending her to a Tokugawa camp? It doesn't really matter anymore; it seems that girl is a natural at everything she does, wether it be spying or fighting or scaring me half to death. And she's definitely a genius with the way she analyzes people's movements while she spars, processes it and finds weaknesses and ways to counter it. I really do have conflicting feelings about her though. She's important to me so I really don't want to send her alone into enemy lines, but she's far too valuable an asset not to be used. I don't even know for sure what I'm feeling for her; I know I care deeply about her, but is it more then a simple friendship?_

**End Journal Entry**

Shinji sat at his workplace; in front of him were Shigeru, Hyuga, and Kaworu. He looked them over and carefully read a document that was placed on top of the pile of papers that littered his desk. He looked up at them and started to speak, "I have a job for you three," he told them, "I want you to go into town and set up a tournament. Kaworu, you'll face off against people on horseback, Shigeru against people with spears and Hyuga in a marksmanship contest. The prize for each category will be 200 ryo."

He then looked up slowly, eyes shimmering dangerously. "I hope I don't have to remind you that there will be hell to pay if any one of you loses," he said in a threateningly low voice, the three just shook their heads quickly, showing their acquiescence. "Good! You _are_ supposed to be the best around, right? Anyway, what I want you to do is to recruit the men you deem worthy enough, inform all that this contest is opened only to ronin, no peasants or samurai with masters," he ordered, all three nodded. "You may go" he told them and they bowed before leaving his tent.

Shinji sighed as he rubbed his hand through his hair, he certainly hoped they really were the best; their funds were depleting rapidly now with 58 people to feed. Asuka had sent a letter to her father, but Shinji knew he could not rely on him forever. He would just have to wait for that payment that Langley-san gave them and then have to find new sources of income; he hoped that he would not have to resort to pillaging though.

A side flap, was pushed open to Shinji's right, and Hyoruki Toshizo walked in carrying a tray with tea and cups. He sat down and poured the tea and he and Shinji started studying the financial reports, trying to see how long it would be before they would run out of money. It had only been a month and yet so many things had either gone wrong or had not been expected; the swordsmen showing up, all requiring new armor and weapons, Kaji staying for an extended period of time to teach Asuka more thoroughly.

"_Someone with that much potential should be trained as good as possible,"_ was what the glum bastard had told him. So Shinji gave him a month and two weeks extra before he would be forced to leave, spear shoved up his ass if he refused, and go to Nagano. Shinji sighed as he looked at the expanse, he was annoyed, almost an entire chest of gold had been used up already, and more was likely to go with the new recruits Shinji had just demanded. He decided that he had enough and would go into town, he needed a new kimono anyways.

* * *

Some distance away from the camp, Asuka was running through the woods. She darted through trees at a breakneck speed, used low branches to leap long distances and struggled to keep up her pace. However, every time she looked behind her and caught the sight of a kunai impaling the exact spot where she had been merely a fraction of a second earlier gave her good incentive to keep her pace just as fast as it was. She finally managed to stop; she hid behind a large tree panting heavily. She looked over her shoulder trying to spot the master shinobi that was chasing her.

"You know, Asuka," she heard his voice travel through the woods; she couldn't pinpoint it as he managed to make it seem to come from several directions. "A shinobi must be invisible at all times, that doesn't mean just getting out of sight, it means stepping lightly, blending in quickly and also... controlling one's." The whistle of a kunai piercing the air reached her ears .

"_BREATHING!_" Asuka gasped and ducked just before the kunai impaled the spot where her head had been. She did a small flip over two more kunai before landing heavily on her back. "You see Asuka, noise is extremely important. Too much noise will end up getting you killed, not only that but the slightest noise can give you away to the enemy. That's why you need to control the amount of noise you make at all times. Because, Asuka, we are demons of the night; our job is done when we get information to our master quickly and accurately. There is no honor in the shinobi way, no bushido. The only _way_ is the way of getting information back, and what means you have to employ for that don't matter at all."

She sucked in all he said whilst trying to pinpoint his location, finally she saw a figure in the distance. '_FOUND YOU!_' she yelled to herself as she quickly dashed forward, climbing through a tree and lunging at her prey. She and her opponent rolled on the forest floor until she finally managed to get him on his back, kunai stuck to his neck. She stared triumphantly at his..._blue_ eyes?! She was taken aback for a moment; she found herself staring at an annoyed Shinji with a kunai to her own neck. She looked over her shoulder to see Kaji smirking slyly at the two. Asuka blushed in embarrassment at the position she found herself in with Shinji but also in shame of her failure. She looked down at Shinji and withdrew her kunai from his neck.

"My apologies, my lord, I didn't mean to tackle you, I was merely mistaken in my target," she said apologetically.

"Asuka, seriously, you scare the hell out of me when you're polite," Shinji responded, which would have caused Asuka to face-fault had Shinji not been holding on to her waist. She looked at his smirking face and decided to tease him, she leaned in close and smiled in triumph at seeing the blush rise to his cheeks.

"Well, maybe you can _teach_ me what you want me to know, in private," she winked at him. Shinji smirked at her, his blush growing in power as he lifted his head. She was so close to him that she could feel his breath on her lips and she felt the blush rising to her own cheeks.

"I'm not really sure you're ready to learn what _I_ have to _teach,_" he whispered languorously.

"Is that a challenge?" she countered.

"Do you want it to be?" he asked her, his face turned serious suddenly, she took a moment to think before replying.

"Yes." And with that she lowered her lips on to his and he forced her down to the forest floor.

* * *

The crack of wood on wood resounded through the clearing; soon the sound of another meeting, now of wood meeting flesh, followed. Shigeru stood proudly over his defeated opponent twirling his wooden naginata in his hand, grinning happily. "You're good, you wait over there with those other twenty-five guys," he told the downed man before turning to the next in line. This man was just a bit shorter then Shigeru himself, he had a nasty scar running over his right eye, as if some kind beast had clawed him leaving three deep gashes into the side of his face, he bowed shortly to Shigeru who returned it.

"I am Shuuhei Kenpachi, and I will get that gold" he proclaimed softly before twirling a wooden spear and pointing it at Shigeru. Shigeru pointed his naginata at Shuuhei and grinned.

"We'll see" he said, and with that he charged at Shuuhei. He swung down at him fast, but Shuuhei dodged to the right. "_He's fast!_" thought Shigeru as he jumped over Shuuhei's spear to avoid getting swept off his feet. He landed in a crouch and dashed at his opponent, the two parried blows and impressive moves for a good twenty minutes. They stood in front of each other panting, Shuuhei clearly had the upper hand as Shigeru had fought in at least 70 matches before this one.

"_I guess I got to use my special!_" thought Shigeru. He lunged at Shuuhei, naginata held straight out in front of him. Shuuhei blocked the blow, sending the spear into the ground. His eyes widened as he saw the spear stop moving but Shigeru still coming. His hand sliding over the handle of his naginata, before Shuuhei could react Shigeru drove the naginata further into the ground, using it to launch himself up into the air. He kicked Shuuhei's chin as he ascended, causing the man to fly backward. As he reached the zenith of his leap, he seemed to stand completely on his naginata with it jutting straight up into the air. He pushed onto it harder, propelled himself higher and tightened his grip onto the handle taking his weapon with him. He twisted backwards in mid-air and raised his weapon behind his head. His legs and neck were bent backwards with his chest sticking straight forward, making him resemble a crescent moon.

"_Tsubasa wo Mikazuki no Tsuki Utsu__!_" Shigeru shouted as he slammed his naginata's wooden blade onto the spear that Shuuhei was holding out high over him. Shuuhei's eyes widened as the practice spear snapped almost immediately under Shigeru's strike which lost almost no momentum. Shuuhei grunted as the naginata inched closer and he saw Shigeru pulling the strike back. Even with the blow abated, the impact knocked almost all the wind out of Shuuhei's body and he could feel a few ribs crack under the pressure of the practice naginata. He lay on the grass, and struggled to breathe. Shigeru came up to him with a serious face, but he could see the triumphant twinkle in the other's eyes.

"If you don't become my lieutenant, I'll do the same strike but with my _real_ weapon," he told him with a hint of a smile peeking out from his serious face. Shuuhei returned a pained but content smile of his own.

"S...Sure I'll become your lieutenant," he said before passing out. Shigeru just shook his head before explaining to the twenty-six men he had singled out earlier that they had been recruited as Ikari clan warriors, something they all accepted after finding out about the generous stipend. And so, with twenty-seven spearmen, Shigeru walked back to the camp, even if one of the spearman had to be carried. He passed Kaworu who had gathered twelve horsemen and Hyuga who had gathered forty-three archers and they followed him, surprising everyone in the streets as to the unusual procession. As they arrived at the camp they saw Shinji with his back turned. He was wearing a flowing long white haori with the kanji for "_Ikari_" on it. At the bottom of the haori, near Shinji's feet, there were black circles going around it; each circle was followed by a straight line that looked like a needle. Shinji turned to them and grinned. They all gaped as they saw the young boy dressed in a completely black kimono, with white undergarments poking out and a white obi; in other words, it was a funerary garb. Kaworu recovered first.

"M-My Lord! What is the meaning of this?!" he exclaimed.

"Well, you know how all the strongest lords have their nicknames? Takeda is the Tiger of Kai, Uesugi the God of War and Oda the Demon King?" he asked.

"Y-yes?" Kaworu responding, dropping the honorary in surprise.

"Well, I decided I wanted one too, and what more fitting title for someone who has had his whole clan murdered then..." he paused and smiled eerily, sending chills up the spines of everybody assembled there "_Shinigami!_" and with that he laughed maniacally before walking off into his tent. They could hear him yelling "HIROYUKI! JIN! ENOUGH SHOGI! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO GET YOUR ASSES TO WORK?! NOW, SEE TO THE NEWCOMERS!" before the two aforementioned men scrambled out of the tent, a flying shogi board following them closely. Inside the tent, Shinji took off his haori before slumping onto his bed. He pressed his hand to his lips with a blush and smiled before drifting off to sleep.

**AN: Well, this'll be the last chapter I post for a while seeing as I'm gonna be leaving soon, I'm sorry for the long time this took to post.**

_Tsubasa wo Mikazuki no Tsuki Utsu_** means Winged crescent moon strike, but if anyone who speaks Japanese fluently, if you notice that I got it completely wrong please do tell me so I can fix it, also it's supposed to look kind of like a pole vault, except bringing the pole backwards during the vault to strike the opponent.****Shuuhei Kenpachi is just Shuuhei Hisagi and zaraki kenpachi's names mashed together, since im not good with names, especially japanese ones :S, For those that think that Shinji complaining about expenditure and then asking for more soldiers: The thing is that now that Shinji has soldiers, he is in trouble with Kamakura town because they'll soon get worried so he has to gather as many as he can before leaving, also Asuka's father is supposed to send him more gold, so that's that**. **Also, Shinji's dressed like a Shinigami captain from Bleach, And I didn't just pop this out of my arse cuz I love Bleach, I was just thinking of a nickname for him and I noticed that he had "DEATH" in his name "Shin" and that his whole clan is 'dead' and I thought it would be appropriate, Death God, someone who becomes a god through death, get it? and not to mention the captain's outfit look badass in Bleach, ****And remember that Shinji is two years older in this then in NGE so he doesn't look as girly, he looks more like a mix of himself and his dad, so him pulling off the captain look is not too far-fetched****. Anyways, I hope some of you won't be disappointed at the fact that we change perspective from now on, the story will sometimes be told from any of the 6 main characters in Shinji's entourage, that is Asuka, Kaworu, Jin, Mugen, Shigeru and Hyuga. Also, since Kaji will be the one to uncover the conspiracies and important secrets and stuff we will never have the story told from his perspective.**

**I'd like to thank all my faithful reviewers, marduk-report, Daetor, SithKnight-Galen and of course Hououza**

**and thank you for CrazyNinjaPenguin who does an awesome making my story from a glob of writing into a decently formatted fic! and he also fixes my grammar mistakes and punctuations thanks dude!**

**ps: damn that's a long author's note.**


	9. Police!

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion belongs to Gainax and Hideaki Anno. The name Samurai of Legend belongs to the online text-based samurai game.

**Samurai of Legend**

**Chapter 9: Police?!**

**Journal Entry 9**

_I can't believe I kissed her. I guess I finally realized what I felt for her was. She's extremely beautiful and I know I'm very attracted to her, but I never thought I'd act upon that feeling. I wonder if this can become more then just attraction. _

_Anyway, I have new soldiers and I managed to completely scare the shit out of all of them. I don't know if that's a good thing or not but if they're scared of me then I only need to gain their respect and gaining their love should not be too hard; once that happens they'll be loyal to me forever._

_Right now my troops consist of 50 swordsmen, 27 spearmen, 43 archers and 12 horsemen. It may only be 92 fighting men, but it's a start, and I have 200 riders still protecting my mother, ready to come back at any time. _

_The main problem is that of the six chests of gold that Asuka's father sent us; two have been completely used up, and that is almost 12,000 ryo. I'm waiting to receive ten more chests of gold from Asuka's father, until then I'm stuck in Kamakura._

**End Journal Entry**

"My lord, there is a man here to see you," Hiroyuki said as he stuck his head in Shinji's tent.

"A man?" Shinji asked.

"Yes, my lord, it seems to be serious business," Hiroyuki clarified. At this, Asuka perked up and looked to Shinji from her position sprawled on her bed.

"Very well, send him in, in a second," Shinji answered. He stood up from his desk and motioned to Asuka to get him his haori. She slipped it on his back and tucked his swords into his obi.

"You look great," she said with a smile as she looked him over. Then she stood on her toes and sneaked a quick kiss on his lips before disappearing into the side flap that that Hiroyuki often used when he brought tea to Shinji.

"Bring him in," Shinji ordered. Soon a man stepped into the tent, followed closely by Hiroyuki, Kaworu and Jin, who had, along with the other two, decided to become Shinji's bodyguards.

Shinji looked the man over with a critical eye. He was a dirty man; his hair looked like it hadn't been washed for weeks and the way he looked at the treasures inside the tent with envious eyes told Shinji more then he needed to know about the filthy man. However, being a polite person Shinji decided to treat the man with respect.

"How may I help you sir?" Shinji asked politely.

"Huh? You can't help me boy, you can just get the hell out of this district," the man said roughly.

"Watch your tongue!" Kaworu exclaimed angrily, but the man just snorted at him.

"Who are you exactly?" Shinji inquired.

"I'm with the police, and I'm telling you that you have to get the hell out of here," the man grunted.

"And how exactly does the fact that you've been given a sword allow a peasant dog like you to order me?" Shinji questioned angrily.

"How? I'll tell you how, you little bitch. How is with my 40 highly trained men just waiting to kick your asses back to whatever hole you came from!" the man said loudly.

"Do you know who owns this region?" Shinji asked the man.

"Yeah, Tokugawa, why?" the man replied.

"Because, Tokugawa is a good friend of mine, in fact, he allotted this exact field to gather troops. Now, I'm going to kill every one of your men, then I'll send you back to him," Shinji explained to the rapidly paling man. "Seize him" Shinji ordered his men before the man could command his own men to fall back and therefore save his life.

Shinji stepped out of the tent, followed by his generals, "Hiroyuki, keep an eye on this dog, Kaworu, get Shigeru and Hyuga and bring them here, Jin get Mugen and bring him here too."

After delivering his orders, Shinji turned to Kitabi, "Sojiro, I need you to keep the troops back. Don't allow them to interfere. You yourself must not interfere as well, understood?" Shinji questioned the man; Kitabi nodded in understanding and turned away to address the soldiers.

Shigeru, Hyuga, Kaworu, Jin, and Mugen arrived just as Kitabi began his briefing.

"What's going on, kid?" Mugen asked Shinji.

"Show some respect!" Kaworu hissed at Mugen.

"I'll show you _respect_, youlittle bi-" Mugen sneered.

"Quiet!" Shinji snapped at them. "Now, there's 40 people out there, they're idiot peasants that have been given swords so they think they're all powerful. I thought this was a prime opportunity for each of us to keep our killing skills honed, but more then that, to show our soldiers there what we're really capable of, especially the men. I'm younger then most of them by nearly 10 years so I need to prove myself to them and also to you two," Shinji motioned at Shigeru and Hyuga, "so now, the 6 of us are going to fight these 40 peasants by ourselves, does anyone have a problem with that?"

Hell no! Let's kick some ass!" Mugen cheered, as the others agreed but with less enthusiastic words. Shinji nodded and slowly drew his sword from its saya; he smirked as he heard the sounds of metal against wood as the three men behind him drew their swords as well. Shigeru just twirled his naginata and Hyuga prepared his bow.

Shinji walked forward slowly until he was about 4 feet away from the police men. The men were staring each other down, neither party willing to make a the first move. Then, suddenly, an arrow pierced through one of the policemen's necks; the man fell on the floor gurgling loudly as he tried to breathe around the arrow that was stuck in his throat. While the other men stared at their downed comrade, Shinji's men took the opportunity to charge at the startled policemen.

Shinji's troops looked over in wonder as they witnessed their generals weaving through the bodies of the police officers, cutting them left and right. Shinji himself was in the middle of the enemies; he quickly struck out at the man in front of him slicing him across the chest, afterwards he brought his sword back up close and jumped backwards avoiding a downward slash. He twisted his sword around and sliced up through the attacker's lower jaw and out through his nose, using that momentum, and building more by spinning in place, he sliced violently in a horizontal line sending a 3rd man's head flying off his shoulders. He composed himself calmly and looked around the small battlefield.

Shigeru was handling the enemy with great ease, and he kept them at bay with the butt end of his naginata which had a small spear tip on it. The inexperienced policemen tried to find an opening in the defense but risked getting too close. Suddenly, Shigeru started a spin and loosened his grip on the shaft of the spear, allowing momentum to bring the spear tip back and fling the halberd forward, this movement caught five policemen, one after the other, gutting them and sending large amounts of blood flying into the air.

Hyuga was standing on the empty chests of gold that were stood on the cart that originally brought them there and picked off the enemy fighters one by one with perfectly place arrows. Kaworu and Jin were backed into a corner; Kaworu had learned to control himself and was not grinning like a maniac but his eyes still held the savage glint of joy in them. The men surrounding them, however, were grinning; they thought that they had already won the battle. Of course they didn't realize who they were fighting against.

Kaworu and Jin who had trained together extensively had developed an understanding of each other's fighting as well as a peculiar but deep friendship. A simple look and they were moving, Kaworu rushed to the right, sword held horizontally across his chest with both hands; his attackers, thinking that he was trying to run away swerved to follow him. He stopped suddenly and let rip the momentum he had building up by pushing forward hard with his left hand and holding his sword back with his stronger right hand he built up force. He then let go with his right hand, allowing the sword to swing at the people coming on his left. The force of the blow cleaved through the first attacker completely, separating his chest from his lower body. He followed the sword and span on with it, clashing with the second man's sword, breaking it clean in half. He quickly recovered from the strike and cut down the man. Jin's cuts however were very meticulous and well timed, delivered like a painter's careful strokes.

Mugen, on his side, was smiling devilishly whilst he cut men left and right. He flipped forward, raised himself on his head and span on it while sending his steel soled sandals into the faces of those unfortunate enough to get too close. He flipped back onto his feet and cut down the stunned men before moving off.

Shinji looked pleased with the performances of his generals, but slacked in his observation of his own surroundings, as he failed to notice a rifle pointed at him. Asuka, however, did not.

"Shinji! Watch out!" she yelled, but too late, she launched a kunai at the marksman and sighed happily as she saw it strike at its target before the man could shoot. The relief was short lived, however, as the man still somehow managed to get his shot in, the round tearing through Shinji's right calf.

"SHINJI!!" she yelled as she saw him stumble and keep himself upwards using his sword; she had promised to stay out of the battle but decided to break that and jumped in front of Shinji. The men who had seen the, now easy, target of Shinji's struggling form did not slow down at her sudden appearance.

Asuka launched several kunai at the advancing men, she killed three and slowed the rest down enough to allow time for her to draw her sword and cur down the remaining two. The remaining dozen police officers took note of the fact that 7 people had almost completely wiped out their comrades and threw down their swords before running away. The fact that Shinji's troops rushed forward to aid their lord helped them decide what to do.

Shinji looked around at the blood soaked field around him and the dozens of bodies, then he looked at each one of his generals' blood covered faces before speaking a single sentence.

"I think we're going to need to leave," he said with a small smirk. The men around him looked at the field and couldn't stop themselves from laughing.

**TBC**

**AN: First off, I want to say that this is probably the lamest journal entry ever! But unfortunately I had really no idea what to put. I'm also aware that this chapter was pretty frigging lame in the beginning but I hope that the battle was good enough for you. I hope that them fighting the police doesn't seem too far fetched to you but the way I see it, the police was there just to keep peasants and lower classes in line and had no authority over daimyo and samurai so the police isn't a power like we think but rather the power is the army. I hope that's clear enough, basically fighting the cops is acceptable considering Shinji's position but if it was a Tokugawa party from the city dispatched under the orders of Tokugawa, fighting them would not be ok. Sorry about the length, it's pretty bad, I usually don't do chapters under 2,000 words with this story, so I'll try to get it better for next chapter.**


	10. Old Friend

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion belong to Gainax and Hideaki Anno. The name Samurai of Legend belongs to the online text-based samurai game.

**Samurai of Legend**

**Chapter 10: Old Friend**

**Journal Entry 10**

_Blasted police! Blasted late gold deliveries! Blasted bullets! I can't believe I let myself be distracted enough that I couldn't notice a rifleman aiming a gun at me! That was pathetic of me. If my father saw me now he would probably laugh in my face._

"_Always watch your surroundings and never let your mind drift, the mind must never waver when in battle and when not in battle, the difference is none. Always know what you can and can't see and learn to predict your enemy's moves as you adapt to counter them, guns are no exception," that would be what he would say to me. _

_Anyway, I really need that gold to arrive as fast as possible, because it won't be long before actual soldiers come to kill us. That policeman that we took prisoner killed himself during the battle, probably a ploy to avoid having to report to Ieyasu of his complete failure. We need to leave fast, and if that gold isn't here by the end of the week, we'll have to leave without it._

**End Journal Entry**

Shinji looked down at his bandaged leg and sighed; he didn't want to think about the pain of the doctor's fingers prodding the inside of his wound for a bullet that had gone out through the other side. He sighed again when he thought about how when the doctor had finished, Shinji, who was delusional due to the pain, had ordered him put to death for not checking for an exit wound before sticking his worthless fingers inside his leg. It probably wasn't a good move, but Kaworu and Asuka were out and Hiroyuki was busy elsewhere so there was no voice of reason anywhere around him and his soldiers had to follow his orders or else they'd be killed too. He decided he would spend his time productively and fished out his papers and started working on them, as long as he had something to get his mind off of the dreadful pain.

* * *

"MOVE IT BOYS! WE GOTTA BE READY FOR ANYTHING" Shigeru yelled out at his spearmen as they scrambled towards the spear depot as the archers shot tip-less arrows at them.

The spearmen ducked and weaved through whatever cover they could manage to avoid getting struck by the arrows. Finally, when they got to their practice weapons, Jin's swordsmen sprung out against them. Shigeru and Shuuhei managed to maneuver their men through the 20 swordsmen, beat the archers and finally managed to regroup with the other swordsmen of Jin's unit. After that, the exercise was done with the swordsmen and then the archers and then it cycled again and again. After about an hour the men were finally allowed to rest as the three generals conferred over a sitting with Hiroyuki and discussed their performances.

"I think that my spearmen have had the most progress then the other units, they nearly doubled their previous pace," Shigeru told Hiroyuki proudly,

"I agree, however my archers have improved a lot with their sword skills. I think Jin should train them from time to time, in case they ever need to enter close combat they should be ready," Hyuga told the other men.

"Indeed, that is a sound plan. I must say that my swordsmen are easily the best, but it's mostly because these men have worked together for years prior to now, whilst the archers and spearmen have only known each other for a matter of days," Jin said softly.

"So, basically, the spearmen have improved their time the most, the archers are evolving in their sword skills and the swordsmen are the best unit to use in case of a real emergency, is that correct?" Hiroyuki clarified as he looked at what he had written down. "Also, the archers request training time with the swordsmen to improve on their close-combat skills" he added, "any other requests?"

"I want to organize another tournament" Jin said, "and this time I want to be in it. We need more soldiers overall if we want to survive against all the marauding bandits. If we don't get more soldiers, we won't be intimidating enough to the bandits and they'll attack us. Except, this time, the prize should be 1,000 ryo rather then 200, so as warriors from all over the Kamakura district will flock. We should spread the word several days before the actual tournament to get as many men in as possible."

"Last time I got really winded after a lot of matches" Shigeru said "I think we should think a representative, Shuuhei in my case, to back us up in case we get tired, it won't do to lose 1,000 ryo just because one of use has become too tired to fight after 100 bouts," he told the others who nodded in agreement.

"Very well, I'll convey all this to our lord. You guys are dismissed; you can do what you please with your troops," Hiroyuki said as he finished noting what the men said. He got up and looked them all in the face. "Good job today, one of you should send some boys in town to get some sake, they deserve it. They really gave their all today," he told the men, then he walked away towards the command tent.

* * *

Asuka scratched her head, "_Nobody told me about a damned wig!_" she thought irritably as she walked through the streets of Kamakura. "_'Go and see if anyone is scared of us' he says, 'see if any response has been mobilized' he says, but does he ever tell me that I have to wear an itchy, ugly wig? My Shinji would have told me, but no, Mr. Hiroyuki is too good for that, tch_"

She walked down into the shady parts of the city, keeping an ear peeled for any mention of the incidents at the field. So far the only things she had heard were mocking comments aimed at the police and respect filled comments towards the men who would defy the police. Sighing, she turned back onto the main streets towards the town's market area. Here it was completely different; stories were running rampant. There were some that said that they were preparing to lay waste to the city, others that they preyed on women that strayed too close and others who thought they were there to liberate them.

Overall, the people's opinion all ended with one conclusion: stay away from them; she noted this with satisfaction because that's exactly what they needed. She walked through the bar district where the warriors often congregated to drink with fellow fighters. Here the warriors spoke of how brave they were to take on 40 men with only 7 and kept singing praise to the men who fought bravely and triumphed. Suddenly, she saw Shuuhei enter the bar and stride over to a man leaning over a table. She sunk back into the shadows and watched him closely with a frown on her face, she cursed the fact that she couldn't move closer to them,

"Get an inch closer and I'll castrate you, you dog," she hissed at the man who was grinning lecherously at her. His smile immediately dropped and he walked off when he saw a knife in her hand.

She noticed that Shuuhei had left while the pervert was bothering her and she cursed under her breath. Suddenly, the man who was talking to Shuuhei told something to a man next to him, who passed it on and soon the whole bar was buzzing with the news, and when she heard it she dashed out. However on her way, she heard another piece of news that froze her blood. She ran even faster through the streets, leaping over carts and people to try and warn Shinji.

"M-My Lord, I really think you need to come out here," Hiroyuki stuttered.

"I'm busy here" Shinji barked at him, angry at having to get up.

"No, my lord, this is extremely urgent," urged Hiroyuki, he poked his head into the tent and Shinji knew how serious this was by the paleness of his face. He struggled to get up before a deep voice interrupted his efforts.

"No need to get up, Shinji," said the voice. Shinji felt his mouth go dry and he looked up; his eyes travelled over the man's legs, quickly diverted to see Hiroyuki kow-towing on the floor. Shinji then looked over the man's strong chest, draped in elegant silk kimono, before settling over the man's gruff, yet kind looking face.

"Ie-jiji," Shinji breathed, astonished. " I mean Tokugawa-sama," he caught himself, "what brings you here?" he asked him.

"Well, Shinji, I heard you killed 35 of my police force two days ago. When I heard the name Ikari I immediately came here. It's good to see you, my boy, I was deeply stricken when I heard of your father's death," Tokugawa told Shinji.

"Ieyasu-san, thank you for coming here, I'm sorry I misbehaved with your police force, I hope you're not mad at me," Shinji said apologetically, eyes downcast.

"Don't worry, your father was like a brother to me, and for years I've treated you as a nephew. I don't think you were out of your rights to execute those who disrespected you," Tokugawa told him with a smile.

"My lord, the gold from Langley-san has…arrived," Kaworu trailed off as he saw the man standing in Shinji's tent, he quickly got on his knees and bowed to the man.

"Gold? And what about Langley-san, maybe you'll explain why he's disappeared," Tokugawa seemed surprised.

"Shinji! There's something you need to know! Tokugawa is coming…" Asuka yelled as she burst from her secret flap, scaring everyone including Tokugawa. She halted herself so fast when she saw him that the wig slipped off her head and covered her face. "My apologies," she whispered.

"Umm, Ieyasu-san, this is Sohryu Asuka Langley," Shinji mumbled.

"Oh, the plot thickens, I hope you can explain it al," Tokugawa gave a curious expression.

"Of course, here's how it went," Shinji started his tale, going over the details such as how Kaworu had been sent to assassinate him, how Langley had been manipulated, how Shinji had gotten him to leave the country and other details of his story.

"That's quite the tale there Shinji, so how much gold did Langley give you before?" Tokugawa asked.

"20,000 ryo, and he just sent me 10,000 because I'm down to my last 5,000 now," Shinji informed Tokugawa.

"Well, I wanted to give you a gift, and since I know you're much too proud to accept soldiers from me, I got you 200,000 ryo," Tokugawa said happily, "and with that come 20 elite swordsmen to guard it" he finished, everyone had been rendered speechless by the sheer amount.

"T-Tokugawa-sama, that's way too much, I can't accept it," Shinji stuttered.

"Well, you can either accept it or be convicted of the murders of 35 policemen, your choice Shinji. Besides, I wanted to give you 500 soldiers, but when I thought about who your father was I knew you would say -" Tokugawa said, but Shinji interrupted.

" 'I must rebuild my clan by my own means' that's what I would have said, and that's what my father would say," Shinji said, he looked up quickly. "Sorry, I shouldn't have interrupted," he mumbled

"No need to apologize Shinji. Anyways I have to go. Oda is requesting my presence near Osaka. I wish you the best of luck," Tokugawa said, he walked over to Shinji and put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "Stay safe," he said before turning away.

"My lord," Shinji said, Tokugawa stopped in the entrance way of the tent and waited without turning. "You may not want not want anything in return, but you do have something, my undying loyalty to you," he said.

"And you have mine, Shinji," Tokugawa said before leaving.

"I meant I would serve you," mumbled Shinji with a smirk, "and you knew that, just too awkward to hear that from me after your relationship with my father, wasn't it?" he whispered to the air.

"What relationship" Asuka blurted out without thinking. She quickly looked down. "Sorry" she mumbled.

"It's okay, don't worry. He and my father were both hostages to the Imagawa clan. when the Imagawa lord died, Tokugawa decided to go on the offensive. I think because he was very young when he was taken, so his ties to his home province were not very strong. My father was taken at 14 and when he was released he decided to just come home and take care of our domains, when he saw that most of them had been stolen by the Akagi during his 25 year absence he took up arms and destroyed the Akagi's armies, that's when he met the traitor Fuyutsuki. After two years he met my mother and then after another for years the war was over with the Akagi's surrender and my father's insistence on no more war our region was at peace. It stopped because my mother had become pregnant with me and my father wanted me to live in a peaceful time. It didn't work out well, obviously, but even back then, every few years there were several skirmishes between us and our neighbors, including our allies the Suzuhara and Aida who were convinced that my father was an impostor. They apologized and you all know that Suzuhara Touji and Aida Kensuke are loyal to me. That's about it" Shinji explained to everyone.

"Now, everyone please leave, Asuka you can stay" Shinji ordered, everyone complied and Asuka waited before they were all out of the tent before walking over to Shinji. She avoided his right leg and sat on his lap, careful not to jar his propped up right leg as she sat. She put her arms around Shinji's neck and kissed him lightly, she tried to pull away but Shinji shifted his hands from her waist to her back and pressed her against him deepening the kiss. Soon both were roaming their hands over each other, Shinji pressed his tongue against Asuka's lips and she happily let him slip his tongue into her mouth. She moaned into his mouth and pushed his tongue out of her mouth before slipping her own into his mouth. She pulled back, breathless, before laying her head on his shoulder and sighing softly,

"Wow," she whispered.

"Yea," Shinji agreed, she lifted her head and looked at him.

"I heard you were preparing another tournament, it had me all worked up because it was 1,000 ryo prize and we had such a low amount of money, but now even if we lose all for categories we'll still be rich" Asuka smirked.

"Yeah, it's true, it was Shigeru and Jin who came up with it, I only agreed. I hope we get a lot of new men with this," Shinji said, he yawned deeply and blinked sleepily. "It's been a long day, help me to my bed, please," Shinji asked Asuka and she complied aiding him to travel and then lie down into his bed. She turned away but Shinji grabbed her hand. "Sleep with me, please?" Shinji asked her with pleading eyes; she smiled before slipping into the bed next to him and pressing her lips to his then turning away and pressing her back to his chest. They both fell asleep with smiles on their faces.

**TBC**

**AN: well, this one should be a lot better then the last one :S, I put some of Shinji's background in, and I also put in some FLUFF! I know you all adore fluff, so here's your dose for today. So yea, hope you like it.**

**PS: Sorry, to all my fans, i only churned out 2 chapters, my time in Greece was much more enjoyable then I thought it would be, thanks in no small part to a certain girl. She'll know who she is if i ever get her to read this.**


	11. On the Road Again

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion belong to Gainax and Hideaki Anno. The name Samurai of Legend belongs to the online text-based samurai game.

**Samurai of Legend**

**Chapter 11: On the Road again**

**Journal entry 11**

_Here I am, on the road again with my troops all around me. I admit that I was disappointed at the turnout of soldiers from the newest contest; considering the prize I offered I would have expected at least more than 150, but I'm not one to squander my gifts so I'm just thankful we managed to recruit more than 50. _

_Here I am, sitting painstakingly on a war horse, trying to ignore my throbbing legs. It was hard enough convincing Kaworu, Asuka and Hiroyuki to let me ride a horse and not that freaking box; now I gotta deal with the fact that they were right? I mean, seriously, I'm a daimyo and I should look dignified sitting on a horse, not packed away in some box like the damn luggage! Anyways, they can't find out, if they do they'll stuff me in that box kicking and screaming if they have to. The worst part is that Kaworu might leave me be if I give him a stern order, Hiroyuki will leave me be if I threaten him seriously, but Asuka...Oh Asuka, no matter how much I care for you, you can be such a pain in the... crap! She's coming, gotta hide this, quick!_

**End Journal**

"So, Shinji, how are you doing? are your legs okay?" Asuka asked as she steered her horse next to Shinji's, not noticing him hurriedly packing his journal away.

"Uh, yea, sure, my legs are fine Asuka. Shouldn't you be riding in front of us? Checking for bandits?" Shinji asked her calmly, trying to control his panic over the prospect of being put in what he liked to call the 'box', but was actually a litter, or more traditionally known as a norinomo. Shinji looked over at Asuka's face and noticed a slight smile there, as well as the content look of someone who has been exerting energy. His eyes caught a droplet a sweat on her neck and he gulped as he watched it disappear down into her cleavage.

"No, Shinji, Kaworu decided to take the lookout for a while so I can keep you company," Asuka said, she glanced over at him and immediately noticed where his gaze was directed. She let a wicked grin appear on her angelic face for a second before deciding to tease the poor, young daimyo, "Shinji, I didn't know you would be so enthralled by my...assets."

She whispered as she leaned over to him, "Maybe, if you're a good boy I'll let you 'play' with them later" She watched the blush on his face intensify before winking at him and riding off laughing. Shinji shook his head quickly and wiped his nose where a trickle of blood had flowed out.

"Witch!" he hissed. "Teasing me like that...guess I'll have to show her, huh?" he said to himself cracking his own wicked grin.

* * *

Kaworu pulled sharply on the reins of his horse, forcing it to come to a halt; he solemnly observed the happenings below him. From his point on top of a hill, he could clearly see a local village putting up a valiant resistance against bandit raiders, but he knew that it was just a matter of time before those bandits broke through. When that happened all the men would be slaughtered, women and girls aged anywhere between 10 and 50 would be brutally raped and killed and everything would be stolen before the village was put to flames. He turned his steed around and started racing at full speed towards the advancing column of Shinji's army; he readily managed to make out the figures of the other generals, gathered around Shinji. As he reached the gathering of commanders he yanked hard on the reins again and his horse skidded to a halt in front of the others.

"My lord! A peasant village is fighting off a bandit raid up ahead!" he exclaimed between pants, Shinji lowered his head and let out a heavy sigh.

"It's not our problem Kaworu," he replied solemnly.

"What?" gasped Kaworu surprised.

"We can't spare any men, I'm sorry." Shinji said

"But, they'll be massacred! Women and children will be raped and murdered! We can't let that happen!" Kaworu exclaimed, outraged.

"And we can't go charging into every fight we find!" Shinji shot back vehemently.

"Wait." Jin held his hand up. "I agree with Kaworu, we should help them," he said.

"No, we won't. End of discussion," Shinji replied sternly before walking his horse away from the others.

"Shin-man!" Mugen yelled out. "You know me, I hate agreeing with those two prudes there," he said, gesturing towards Kaworu and Jin. "But, finding peasants willing to fight for themselves is rare, you wanted me to train some peasants for your shock troops, right? Well, I think these guys are the perfect candidates. If they're willing to fight for their lands then they know of honor, right? I don't put much stock in that, but you Japanese do. So If we rescue them they'll owe us a, what do you call it? Debt of honor, right? Then let's do it, then we can teach them how to fight properly and I can pick the best ones out to start training," Mugen rationalized. "Whaddaya say?" he asked, Shinji lowered his head again and then shook it,

"You're right," he acquiesced with a sigh. "Get the men in formation, archers can't be used, we might hit the peasants. Naginata go in first and swordsmen back them up, cavalry should be ready to charge at a moment's notice. Take care of your men, they're scarce and we need all of them," he ordered them. "Asuka!" Shinji then yelled out; he waited a few seconds before seeing her appear on her horse. "I presume you're aware of what's going on in the valley?"

"Yea, bandits, village about to burn, and so on and so forth," she confirmed.

"Good. Fight their leader, kill him, and bring me his head," he firmly issued his order; she nodded. She dismounted her horse and turned around. "Asuka," Shinji called out again; she turned back around to face Shinji. "Be careful, please."

"I will," she answered with a smile. She walked over to him, and took his foot out of his stirrup before hooking her own foot in it. She lifted herself up on the side of the horse and kissed him deeply. She broke off and hopped back down to the ground. "Don't worry" Asuka said with a wink. "I wouldn't want to deprive you that chance to 'handle' my assets," she told him with a lecherous grin before slinking off.

"Blasted witch," muttered Shinji as he watched her saunter off, "she'll kill me one day."

"My lord," called Kaworu; Shinji turned to face him. "The battle is about to start, are there any orders you would like to give before we make our presence known?"

"Yes, show me the battlefield now," Shinji told him. Kaworu nodded and sent his horse on a trot towards the top of the rise, from there they could see everything, including the on-going raid of the peasant village. "Kaworu, you didn't tell me this" Shinji remarked.

"Tell you what?" asked Kaworu perplexed.

"Look," Shinji pointed at the village entrance. "And there," he pointed further up the hill. "They're trying to break through the village with small parties but the main group is staying behind. If you can split up the archers into two groups we put one to their side with the spearmen and swordsmen and have one sneak over behind them with the cavalry, further up the hill, the first group will open fire, and seeing as they don't have any ranged weapons, they'll be forced to charge at us. While they mobilize towards the first group of archers, the second group can open fire forcing them to split up, this would most likely leave them open for a charge," Shinji explained.

"My lord, I think your plan is brilliant, however I don't think the cavalry should go with the second group of archers, instead send the swordsmen with one group and the spearmen with the other group. Once both groups have engaged the enemy, provided they split their forces up, there will be a gap between the two lines, if we drive the cavalry into that gap we may very well end this fight much quicker," Kaworu responded.

"Hmm, or we could split the cavalry into two groups and have...no that wouldn't work. I think your plan is the best we can do under the given circumstances. If we had more time we could take over the high ground and pin them down with spearmen and archers and use the cavalry to charge at their backs, but the village would fall before we could get the men in position. Ok, inform the troops, inform the other generals and prepare for battle!"

**TBC**

**AN: WHAT WILL HAPPEN!? OMFG! WILL THEY SUCCEED!! well, you'll see next time. sorry for the short chapter guys, like i said though, school, school and more goddamn school... I get a 3 day weekend soon so I hope to release the next chapter by then (provided this is even beta'ed by then) and even if it isn't released im sure I'll have the battle finished by then. Also, keep in mind that I might not be consistent or fast with releases, before i had maybe one chapter a week done but that was during the break, so sorry if you have to wait on me :(**

**Also, I'd like to point out that, after having re-read the chapters I noticed that the relationship between Asuka and Shinji was very Shakespearean so I decided to add some good old, true to life, out of control teenage hormones. I mean, they're both 16 and Japan was a sexually open nation until the Europeans came along. So yea, Shinji's ogling and Asuka likes it, and that's how most relationships are, girls love it when their boyfriends admire their bodies :p well, that's a slice of real life in there for ya.**

**PS: I just realized this is 1770 words long! omg! I'm so sorry guys, I swear I'll make it up to you but really I'm so sorry, oh and I might as well start taking the vote now but I was thinking of posting a side-story to this one later on, of S-A's first night 'together' if you catch my drift, cuz I don't want this to go to an M rating and I think that maybe some people want to read it about every stage of their connection, after all sex is a part of love (unless you're bored then it's just sex) but anyways, tell me if once the situation arrives (so many dirty puns I could have used just now i.e. comes up, arises lol) you want it to fade to black with the big TBC and keep going or fade to black and then have the side story that depicts what happens, up to you.**

**PPS: if you haven't noticed, I'm writing a buttload of nothing to try and up the wordcount to this, I know, I know, im pathetic goes to a corner and cries Hey! At least I don't have conversations with myself or my characters or fictional personalities that reside in me! looks on the bright side of patheticness I'm a regular ole comic aren't I**


	12. Fight!

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion belong to Gainax and Hideaki Anno. The name Samurai of Legend belongs to the online text-based samurai game.

**Samurai of Legend**

**Chapter 12: Fight!**

Shinji sighed heavily as his troops mustered for battle, the soldiers grimly fastening on their armor, tightening the straps on their sandals and hefting their weapons. His face reflected theirs, grim, impassive and emotionless; he had to be a model leader, emotion in battle was for the weak.

"My Lord!" Kaworu rode up to Shinji, calling out for his attention. Shinji turned to face his cousin, "look, they've noticed us, I'm afraid our surprise attack will not work after all"

The silver-haired youth said, pointing towards the bandits who were amassing in a poorly made square formation, as expected from men with no training or honor. Shinji nodded grimly, his eyes narrowing as he thought of the implications of a straight up battle between a more numerous, albeit less trained opponent.

"Move the troops out, standard square formation, naginata leading, archers in the back. We will meet them head to head, man for man" Shinji spoke softly, yet his words carried an intensity that was rarely seen in the boy, despite his unwanted station.

"Is that wise?" Kaworu questioned "we are outnumbered 2 to 1"

"It's a gambit." was the short reply

"a gambit?" Kaworu repeated

"yes, the gambit is that Asuka killing the bandit leader will demoralize them and make them flee" Shinji explained

"well, what if she can't do it? Or if it doesn't work" Kaworu pressed

"If it doesn't work, we'll cut them down! And if she fails, then we fail as well. Either way, people are going to be killed and the fields will be drenched with blood today!" Shinji snapped and he directed his horse to the front of his army "Listen up! You know as well as I do that with every battle, even the victorious side must pay the appropriate tribute, there will be blood, the men to your left or right may not return. However, even injured, I will fight among side you, and I will lay down my own life to preserve the honor of my name. An honor you now share as my retainers, and as my soldiers. We will triumph today, or we will die on this field" The last line of his speech seemed to demoralize his men, but Shinji wasn't done "However!" He screamed "I will not die here! I will _not_ die here! Why? Because these worthless dogs, these mongrels who have the fucking audacity to think that getting their disgusting mitts on a second rate sword grants them any rights will not have the pleasure of murdering someone of my stature! And as such, you will not die either! I will not allow these less then human pieces of trash to tarnish my name by having you die on their rusty blades. We will triumph! We will show these punks what real warriors are, and by the end of this day, those lucky enough to have escaped our merciless steel will cower in fear for the rest of their lives**.** Praying never to encounter men as ferocious as us! Banzai!" he shouted, hoisting his sword up to the sky and forcing his steed to camber, making Shinji seem larger then life. His soldiers echoed the war cry and quickly hurried into formation, grim smiles on their faces and unquenchable fire in their eyes.

Shinji himself went for his armor, limping towards the chest that held the dark blue garment, as he reached to open it, a pale hand found its way onto his and squeezed his hand gently, Shinji looked up into the serious red eyes of his cousin, who shook his head slowly. He opened his mouth to protest, until he saw his other generals around him, with that same look. Even his soldiers looked at him that way, he sighed and resigned himself, '_so they won't let me fight while injured_.' He pulled his hand back, and shifted so that he now held Kaworu's hand as well, "I trust you, cousin, don't fail me. And don't die."

He turned on his heel swiftly, and strode proudly to the chair Hiroyuki had set out for him, ignoring his cousin's almost imperceptible nod, and ignoring the stabbing pain in his leg. As he sat down, he felt guilty that he would not be fighting with his men, but at the same time he felt thankful that Kaworu had stopped him, he did not want to face Asuka in case he got seriously injured for charging headlong into battle with an already bad wound. He watched gravely as Kaworu mounted his horse, forsaking the position he held as cavalry leader to take charge of the entire host of forces at his disposal. The silver-haired youth turned to the troops and nodded, before raising his katana high and bringing it down in one fell swoop. As one, Shinji's army started moving forward, causing the earth to shake slightly under the perfectly synchronized marching.

* * *

Outside the, now mostly abandoned, bandit camp, Asuka looked to the field and noticed the two armies moving ever so excruciatingly slowly towards one another, if she observed carefully she was the bandits bumping into each other as they marched forward, shoving and pushing, rowdy and undisciplined. Opposite them, the Ikari troops moved in perfect harmony, maintaining the perfect distance between each soldier as they moved, she nodded, smiling grimly. They had been trained well, and so had she, she dashed silently into the camp.

As expected, it was fairly deserted, making her job easier. Most of the bandits were out in that field, ready to do battle with Shinji's forces. She put her training to use and quickly analyzed the layout of the enemy camp, and from that she managed to deduce the position where the bandit leader's tent would most likely be. After all, it was pretty easy considering that the camp was hastily thrown together by undisciplined swines. And men of power always wanted to be at the center of the camp, something Shinji didn't enjoy himself, he preferred to use a pyramid like lay out, with his tent at the 'top' of the camp with his troops spread out in front of him. Something carried over from his father, Kaworu had once told her, a way to see everything and be in total control, and to remind the men who was at the top.

Asuka quickly focused on her assignment again, she knew that the possibility of the leader being in the camp was low, since his 'troops' were about to do battle, but as far as she knew, bandit leaders were cowards and she knew there was a good chance to find the man. She silently slipped in to the tent and the sight that greeted her was not something she was expecting. Rifling through the different chests around the tent was a woman. Asuka crept behind her and silently put a kunai up to her neck, her eyes narrowing as the woman straightened up. She was taller then Asuka, but the redhead could not see her hair due to the scarf she wore to hide it. She had a large bust, much larger then Asuka's, much to the redhead's displeasure. The woman turned around and looked at her with chocolate brown eyes and Asuka simply stared back.

"You better tell your lackey to drop the weapon and sit down, unless you want this tent to get a new paint job" she growled. She heard a gasp from behind her, so it was two women then? She was pleased to see the woman's eyes widen slightly in surprise.

"You're good" she said simply

"you're not" answered Asuka

"I know, but one needs to live whatever way they can. And I refused to become a whore" The woman replied

"What are you doing here? Where's the bandit leader?" Asuka asked her, the woman pointed at the floor behind her.

"we're just thieves, no one to bother you." Asuka lowered the kunai and turned to the bandit's leader who laid on the floor, bound and gagged, she made her way to him and brought him to his knees, pulled out the wakizashi Shinji had given her and prepared to slice the screaming man's head off. "Whoa! What are you doing?"

"My Sh-um...master ordered me to bring him this man's head." Asuka said coldly

"Hell no! That guy told me he had some kind of treasure around, we gotta find it first"

"I don't give a shit about you petty thieves" Asuka snabbed back, She suddenly felt steel agaisnt her neck and narrowed her eyes "don't stand in my way, lady, or I'll kill you before you even realize how big a mistake you just made." She smiled as she felt the knife lower slightly and then start trembling.

"I-I _need_ that treasure!" the woman pleaded

"not my problem"

"fine! Since _we_ caught him, shouldn't we get a reward?"

"not my place to say, but I suppose it won't hurt to ask my master, if it means you'll stay out of my way" the steel disappeared from her neck and the woman stepped back, nodding. Without another word Asuka lopped the still panicking man's head off and shoved it inside a bag, scrunching her face up '_Japanese and their weird customs_' she thought. She nodded at the two women and they followed her out of the tent.

* * *

In the valley below, the battle had started. Kaworu was barking out orders, directing the troops Shinji had entrusted to him. Out in the front, Mugen was practically shaking with excitement at the idea of a battle of this scale, he'd never seen such a battle before, only participating in brawls. Jin stood at his side, recalling the battles he had served for his former master. In fact most of the ronins were thinking along the same lines.

The archers, led by Hyuga were already firing, thinning down the numbers of the enemy. They were leaderless at the moment, which led Kaworu to believe that Asuka had succeeded. They kept charging and pulling back when they were hit with waves of arrows. Suddenly, they decided that charging was better then just getting shot at. As they neared the front lines, naginata and spears were already poised to impale the people charging at them.

Shinji leaned forward in his chair, the crash was thunderous. Spears snapped, bones broke, people screamed, armor collided against armor and soon the sound of steel colliding against steel was ringing through the valley. Shinji sighed as he saw blood had started to paint the ground of the valley, he noticed that in the middle of it all, Mugen was fighting furiously and smiled grimly, that was sure to intimidate the bandits. Shinji suddenly sprang forward in his seat as he saw a figure descend from the bandit camp on horseback. He grinned widely despite the situation, Asuka was safe and she was headed towards Kaworu, which probably meant that she succeeded in her assignment. Shinji frowned slightly when he noticed her being followed by two people, but their demeanor was not hostile, they were just following her, not chasing her. He watched her ride up to Kaworu and hand him something.

Asuka gave the bloody sack to Kaworu "I did the job, the bastard's head's in there." she told him

"and them?" he asked her warily

"They want to speak with Shinji, I'll keep a close watch on them don't worry" she assured him. Kaworu nodded

"well, he agreed to sit out this battle, with his leg being injured. He's up there" Kaworu told her, pointing to the hill. Asuka simply nodded and rode off, as she did Kaworu caught a glimpse of the two people following her and did a double take '_is that...?_' he shook his head clear of the thoughts, now was not the time for stray thoughts.

He opened the sack and peered at the contents, so that's what their leader looked like. He smirked as he pulled the head out of the bag by its hair, with a quick nudge, his horse trotted until he was almost in the thick of the battle, he took a deep breath and yelled out as loud as he could

"Look at your leader!" he brandished the severed head "This fate awaits you all! Sniveling curs!" and with that he threw the head in the middle of the bandits. The effect was immediate, some took fear and fled immediately, others redoubled their efforts but were cut down due to not being careful enough in their anger, and others still were killed as they stared at the head as it sailed through the air. From that point on, moping up had begun and Kaworu smiled, the battle was almost over. '_Next would be assessing damages and casualties_', he thought grimly.

Meanwhile, Asuka had finally reached the hill where Shinji sat. As she approached him, she kneeled. "I've done what you asked of me, my lord" she said, recognizing that this was business time and informality would come later "I've also stumbled upon two thieves, they had bound and gagged the leader and now they ask for some sort of reward. They wouldn't leave me alone so I just brought them to you."

Shinji nodded and waved her aside, Asuka stood up and went to stay behind him, carefully watching the two women who had followed her for any suspicious activity. She was rather surprised by what happened next.

"Oh my god!" the cry came from the thief as she hurled herself at Shinji and enveloped him in a rather impressive bear hug "Shinji! Oh my God! Is it really you!" she cried as she squeezed the life out of him

"M-Misato-san! Please! Stop! C-Can't breathe!" he gasped as he tapped her on her arms trying to get her to loosen her hold.

"oh! Sorry Shinji-kun" she said meekly, releasing the gasping young man "I was just so surprised, I thought you died!"

"the feeling is mutual" Shinji said with a smile and then turned to Hiroyuki "get Kitabi-san here, tell him I have a gift for him" the older man nodded and hurried as Shinji stood and wrapped his arms around this Misato. "It's so good to see you, Misato-san. Is your sister well?" he asked her as he released her

The woman nodded and revealed the other thief and Shinji smiled and hugged her too "Hikari-san! I'm so glad you're ok" he said. Meanwhile, Asuka was fuming! Who were these women? And why were they so touchy with her Shinji? Sensing her anger Shinji turned to her

"This is Katsuragi Misato and her younger sister Horaki Hikari" he said introducing the two, he leaned in and whispered in Asuka's ear "Misato's husband was killed about 4 weeks after they married and she kept his name" he explained the differences in their last name. "They both are Kitabi-san's cousins, and they lived in the castle for as long as I can remember. Misato here is like an older sister to me, and Hikari is like a younger sister" he said with a smile.

Just then, Kitabi appeared followed by Hiroyuki and practically lunged at his cousins hugging them both and crying tears of happiness. During all this, Misato's scarf had been knocked off and Asuka marveled at the long silky-looking purple hair that had cascaded down her back. Shinji sat back down and watched, with a content smile, as Kitabi and Misato reunited, and Kaworu wrapped up the battle.

* * *

Later that night, Shinji had retired to his tent as his army feasted with the villagers. There was joy and revelry everywhere. He couldn't believe he had found Misato. At that moment Kaworu walked in with a couple of scrolls that he laid on Shinji's desk, improvised from a large chest.

"Casualty reports, my lord. I wrote them down because I would like you to wait until tomorrow to look at them, please rest tonight" Kaworu requested of his cousin

"I'll try, Kaworu, but first I want to thank you. I had faith you and you proved that it was not misplaced. I am proud of what you accomplished, you did not fail me" Shinji bowed his head slightly

"My lord, thank you for your kind words. It was my first full scale battle and I am rather exhausted. I shall retire to my bed for tonight if you do not mind" Kaworu answered, blushing slightly

"of course not! Go, rest, tomorrow you and I will have a quiet celebration. Some tea, some reports and good conversation" Shinji said chuckling, knowing his cousin would never raucously participate in large feasts like the rest of Shinji's generals were doing at the moment.

Kaworu smiled back and nodded "sounds great, My L- Shinji" he said, dropping the title for once, causing Shinji to beam at him. Kaworu blushed again and excused himself. Shinji, left to his own devices, sighed and reached for the casualty reports when a voice interrupted him

"He's right you know" Asuka said, slinking up to him, as usual she had just seemed to appear out of thin air "you should relax tonight, enjoy yourself." she purred as she draped herself over his back. Shinji smiled

"How do you suppose we do that?" he asked her

"I got a few ideas" she whispered in her ear and smiled as she watched him blush scarlet "Baka hentai! Not that!" she snapped before grinning again "not yet...but close, I'm sure we can do something to entertain ourselves" and with that she dragged him over to his bed and locked her lips to his.

**To Be Continued**

**A.N: Ok, so here we go. I'm not dead, I just stopped writing for yeaaars. I also changed my pen name, as you can see. This story will probably feel different now, I've changed and I'm older and junk. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, I'm gonna be sporadically working around my university schedule, work schedule, starcraft 2 addiction and other obligations. I'll try to keep this story as well as my other new EVA story going, but no promises. I hope you like this, please review**


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